Big Fork (1 mi SSE), Arkansas climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Big Fork (1 mi SSE)'s normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 66.6 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.2°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,691 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBig Fork (1 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSC00030664
- Location34.46°N 94.00°W
- Elevation1,200 ft (366 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Big Fork (1 mi SSE) is 66°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Big Fork (1 mi SSE).
- Jan 47° 32°
- Feb 53° 35°
- Mar 61° 42°
- Apr 69° 50°
- May 74° 59°
- Jun 81° 66°
- Jul 87° 69°
- Aug 86° 69°
- Sep 79° 62°
- Oct 69° 52°
- Nov 58° 42°
- Dec 50° 34°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Big Fork (1 mi SSE) each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in May (7.87 in), the least in August (4.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 32°F | 39.7°F | 4.38 | 0.5 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 35°F | 43.8°F | 4.57 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 61°F | 42°F | 51.4°F | 5.44 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 50°F | 59.3°F | 6.93 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 74°F | 59°F | 66.5°F | 7.87 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 81°F | 66°F | 73.4°F | 5.12 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 69°F | 77.9°F | 4.94 | 0.0 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 86°F | 69°F | 77.5°F | 4.33 | 0.0 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 62°F | 70.7°F | 5.22 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 52°F | 60.3°F | 5.53 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 42°F | 49.9°F | 6.23 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 34°F | 42.1°F | 6.01 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 51°F | 59.4°F | 66.57 | 1.3 | 104 | 27 | 56 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | 0°C | 4.3°C | 111 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 12°C | 2°C | 6.6°C | 116 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 16°C | 6°C | 10.8°C | 138 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 10°C | 15.2°C | 176 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 15°C | 19.2°C | 200 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 19°C | 23.0°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 21°C | 25.5°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 20°C | 25.3°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 17°C | 21.5°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 11°C | 15.7°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | 6°C | 9.9°C | 158 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | 1°C | 5.6°C | 153 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030664; 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.
Which months are mildest at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00030664.
When is the last frost at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
In Big Fork (1 mi SSE), the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 26 in half of years and after April 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 12 in half of years and before October 29 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 261 year in 10 after April 11; 9 in 10 after March 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 121 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before December 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 235 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 258 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Big Fork (1 mi SSE) in zone 8a in ZIP code 71971, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00030664; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
In a normal year in Big Fork (1 mi SSE), 27 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 56 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 56a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00030664.
How sunny is it at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Big Fork (1 mi SSE), 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 64% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 81% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 76% | 3.8 |
| November | 72% | 2.8 |
| December | 69% | 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 many heating and cooling degree days does Big Fork (1 mi SSE) record?
A normal year at Big Fork (1 mi SSE) brings 3,446 heating degree days, 36% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,426 cooling degree days, 57% more than 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 4,546 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 784 | 0 |
| February | 596 | 1 |
| March | 426 | 6 |
| April | 198 | 27 |
| May | 60 | 106 |
| June | 2 | 254 |
| July | 1 | 400 |
| August | 0 | 388 |
| September | 21 | 192 |
| October | 192 | 48 |
| November | 455 | 4 |
| December | 711 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,446 | 1,426 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030664. 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.
Have recent years at Big Fork (1 mi SSE) been warmer than normal?
2023 averaged 60.8°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.4°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.5°F | +0.1°F | 61.11 | 10.8 |
| 2022 | 59.8°F | +0.4°F | 66.34 | 4.2 |
| 2023 | 60.8°F | +1.4°F | 69.54 | 5.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00030664. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Big Fork (1 mi SSE)'s climate compare?
Big Fork (1 mi SSE) is warmer than 21 of the 86 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 85. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.4°F is warmer than 73%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Big Fork (1 mi SSE) 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 Big Fork (1 mi SSE) share this climate record?
Board Camp has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Board Camp, AR76 people · 7 mi NW
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 Big Fork (1 mi SSE)'s climate
What is the coldest month at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
May, with 7.87 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 4.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Big Fork (1 mi SSE) in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Big Fork (1 mi SSE) in zone 8a in ZIP code 71971, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at Big Fork (1 mi SSE)?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 26; 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
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Mena, AR19 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Mount Ida (3 mi SE), AR24 miles from this station, 59.2°F a year
- Mount Ida, AR25 miles from this station, 61.7°F a year
- Murfreesboro, AR32 miles from this station, 60.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made