Birch Hill Dam, MA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Birch Hill Dam's primary NOAA station, BIRCH HILL DAM.
The climate verdict for Birch Hill Dam
Water is the standout signal in Birch Hill Dam, Massachusetts: 48.6 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 46°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 46°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 48.6"
- annual precipitation · 51" snow
- 148 days
- frost-free growing season
Birch Hill Dam: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00190666 · Birch Hill Dam, MA 46°F mean · 48.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,647
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Vassar
- PRCP-MID 48.6"
- SWING-WIDE 48°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,234 HDD
- STN-1 USC00190666
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Vassar, MI (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MA station list.
- Birch Hill Dam (this station) 46°F
- Cold Old Mission, MI 46°F
- Hot E Jordan, MI 46°F
- Near Vassar, MI 46°F
- Near Hopkinton Lake, NH 46°F
Climate Living Index · Birch Hill Dam
Birch Hill Dam: 31/100 · grade F
Birch Hill Dam publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Birch Hill Dam, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 48.6 in · 13.6 from 35 in | 52/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 168 calendar days | 34/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.3°F · 21.2° from 67.5°F | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 148 days/year | 24/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 50.9 inches/year | 20/100 · F |
Birch Hill Dam · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Birch Hill Dam is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 22.1°F and warmest-month mean 70.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 70.1°F
- Coldest month
- 22.1°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Birch Hill Dam sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Birch Hill Dam's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 76%
- Among 6,861 stations, Birch Hill Dam sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 22% wettest
- Birch Hill Dam's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 73%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Birch Hill Dam is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Birch Hill Dam compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Birch Hill Dam's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Birch Hill Dam's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 51 complete annual observations from 1950 to 2021, BIRCH HILL DAM warmed at a fitted rate of 0.23°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Birch Hill Dam primary station fitted change +0.23 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F (0°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 3.5" | 11.3" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 35°F (2°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 3.2" | 15.1" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 4.0" | 10.7" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 3.7" | 2.2" | 18.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 4.0 | 0.4 |
| June | 76°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 2.4 | 0.4 |
| October | 60°F (15°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 4.9" | 0.0" | 14.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 3.9" | 0.9" | 23.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 4.3" | 10.7" | 28.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 16, short of 90°F on every date, while 168 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 11°F near January 27.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 14, then returns to freezing around October 30, covering 168 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 18, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 2 at 26%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 123 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Birch Hill Dam.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 11.3"
10.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 15.1"
10.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.7"
10.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.2"
11.0 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
9.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.7"
10.8 days with precipitation
Birch Hill Dam spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 27% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Birch Hill Dam has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 48°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 4.9" and February 3.2". The three wettest months together take 29% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Birch Hill Dam, it arrives in quantity
48.6" of precipitation falls across only about 123 wet days here, averaging 0.39 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 123 a year, 34% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.39 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Birch Hill Dam
Birch Hill Dam averages 50.9 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 19 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 50.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 19 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 10% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
148 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,234
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
445
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MA closest to Birch Hill Dam on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (46°F here).
- Binghamton, NY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Chewelah, WA 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Delanson, NY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Douglas, WY 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (48.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Titusville, FL 48.6" · 0.0" off
- Gravette, AR 48.6" · 0.0" off
- Baiting Hollow, NY 48.6" · 0.0" off
- Sandersville, GA 48.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Birch Hill Dam
heating led · wet · mid swing
Birch Hill Dam's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,234 annual heating degree days against 445 for cooling. Its 48.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 148 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Birch Hill Dam coldest normal
January
Averaging 22°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Birch Hill Dam typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Birch Hill Dam snow peak
February
Birch Hill Dam averages 50.9 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Birch Hill Dam's climate
How much snow does Birch Hill Dam get? ▼
How cold does Birch Hill Dam get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Birch Hill Dam? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Birch Hill Dam's primary station: BIRCH HILL DAM (USC00190666). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Birch Hill Dam; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Birch Hill Dam comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.