Bessemer, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bessemer's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 55.5 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.6°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,409 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBessemer (3 mi WSW)
- Station IDUSC00010764
- Location33.40°N 87.01°W
- Elevation445 ft (136 m)
- Population25,079
On October 23, the normal high in Bessemer is 74°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bessemer.
- Jan 56° 34°
- Feb 61° 37°
- Mar 68° 43°
- Apr 76° 50°
- May 83° 59°
- Jun 89° 67°
- Jul 92° 71°
- Aug 92° 70°
- Sep 87° 64°
- Oct 77° 53°
- Nov 66° 42°
- Dec 58° 37°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Bessemer each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.42 in), the least in October (3.26 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 34°F | 44.8°F | 5.40 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 61°F | 37°F | 48.8°F | 5.38 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 43°F | 55.8°F | 5.42 | 0.7 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 50°F | 63.1°F | 5.11 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 59°F | 71.2°F | 4.55 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 67°F | 77.9°F | 4.53 | 0.0 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 71°F | 81.2°F | 4.76 | 0.0 | 11 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 92°F | 70°F | 80.6°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 10 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 64°F | 75.4°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 3.26 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 4.45 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 37°F | 47.3°F | 5.20 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 52°F | 63.7°F | 55.49 | 1.2 | 113 | 80 | 57 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 137 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| March | 20°C | 6°C | 13.2°C | 138 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 28°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 27.3°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 27.0°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 18.2°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 19°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.5°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00010764; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Bessemer?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00010764.
When is the last frost in Bessemer?
In Bessemer, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 23 in half of years and after April 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 10 in half of years and before October 27 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- March 231 year in 10 after April 11; 9 in 10 after March 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 101 year in 10 before October 27; 9 in 10 before November 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 231 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 257 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bessemer in zones 8a to 8b across its 2 ZIP code areas (8b in 35022, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bessemer's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (28 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00010764; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
What hardiness zone is each Bessemer ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Bessemer's 2 ZIP code areas run from zone 8a to 8b: 1 in 8a and 1 in 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Bessemer?
In a normal year in Bessemer, 80 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 57 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 113 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 80a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 57a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 113a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1977) is 109°F, on August 20, 1998; the lowest is −6°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2009, with 70.48 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 16.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00010764; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00010764. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bessemer?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bessemer, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.6 |
| February | 67% | 3.2 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 68% | 2.3 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Bessemer need?
A normal year in Bessemer brings 2,537 heating degree days, 53% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,100 cooling degree days, 2.3 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,646 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 628 | 1 |
| February | 456 | 3 |
| March | 301 | 16 |
| April | 120 | 61 |
| May | 21 | 213 |
| June | 0 | 387 |
| July | 0 | 501 |
| August | 0 | 485 |
| September | 6 | 319 |
| October | 104 | 100 |
| November | 349 | 12 |
| December | 552 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,537 | 2,100 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00010764. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Bessemer been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.8°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.3°F | −0.4°F | 64.53 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 63.9°F | +0.2°F | 57.60 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | 65.4°F | +1.7°F | 45.64 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 65.7°F | +2.0°F | 53.98 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 64.8°F | +1.1°F | 47.63 | 3.0 |
Over 37 complete years from 1978 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.0°F per century (+0.34°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00010764; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bessemer's climate compare?
Bessemer is warmer than 43 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 17. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.7°F is warmer than 85%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bessemer is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Bessemer share this climate record?
19 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Hueytown, AL16,185 people · 1 mi NW
- McCalla, AL13,939 people · 6 mi S
- Fairfield, AL9,524 people · 8 mi NE
- Pleasant Grove, AL9,375 people · 7 mi N
- Midfield, AL4,930 people · 6 mi NE
- Lake View, AL3,905 people · 10 mi SW
- Vance, AL2,303 people · 20 mi SW
- Brighton, AL2,245 people · 5 mi NE
- Lipscomb, AL2,019 people · 5 mi NE
- Concord, AL1,878 people · 5 mi N
- Woodstock, AL1,616 people · 15 mi SW
- Sylvan Springs, AL1,613 people · 9 mi N
- Rock Creek, AL1,313 people · 7 mi NW
- Minor, AL911 people · 11 mi N
- Mulga, AL768 people · 11 mi N
- McDonald Chapel, AL704 people · 9 mi NE
- Edgewater, AL694 people · 10 mi N
- Maytown, AL314 people · 11 mi N
- North Johns, AL126 people · 6 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Bessemer's climate
What is the coldest month in Bessemer?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Bessemer?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 0 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (0.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bessemer?
March, with 5.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.26 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bessemer in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bessemer in zones 8a to 8b across its 2 ZIP code areas (8b in 35022, the largest). By the same method at Bessemer's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Bessemer?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 23; in one year in ten it comes after April 11. Waiting until April 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Helena, AL13 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Birmingham, AL19 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Alabaster, AL20 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Bankhead Lock and Dam, AL21 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made