Birmingham, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Birmingham's normal year runs from 35°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 56.6 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.7°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,438 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBirmingham Airport
- Station IDUSW00013876
- Location33.57°N 86.75°W
- Elevation615 ft (188 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population196,357
On October 23, the normal high in Birmingham is 73°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Birmingham.
- Jan 55° 35°
- Feb 59° 38°
- Mar 67° 45°
- Apr 75° 52°
- May 82° 61°
- Jun 88° 69°
- Jul 91° 72°
- Aug 91° 71°
- Sep 86° 65°
- Oct 76° 54°
- Nov 65° 43°
- Dec 57° 38°
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 Birmingham each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.66 in), the least in October (3.34 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 35°F | 44.7°F | 5.03 | 0.4 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 38°F | 48.8°F | 4.95 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 45°F | 56.0°F | 5.66 | 0.5 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 75°F | 52°F | 63.6°F | 5.08 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 61°F | 71.5°F | 4.91 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 88°F | 69°F | 78.3°F | 4.78 | 0.0 | 11 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 91°F | 72°F | 81.5°F | 5.42 | 0.0 | 12 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 91°F | 71°F | 80.9°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 65°F | 75.6°F | 4.00 | 0.0 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 54°F | 64.9°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 43°F | 54.0°F | 4.23 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 38°F | 47.4°F | 4.87 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 54°F | 63.9°F | 56.62 | 1.4 | 118 | 65 | 47 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 2°C | 7.1°C | 128 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 15°C | 4°C | 9.3°C | 126 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 19°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 144 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.5°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.2°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 19°C | 24.2°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 18°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.6°C | 124 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013876; 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 Birmingham?
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 USW00013876.
When is the last frost in Birmingham?
In Birmingham, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 21 in half of years and after April 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 30 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 211 year in 10 after April 8; 9 in 10 after February 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 236 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 262 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 7 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Birmingham in zones 8a to 8b across its 27 ZIP code areas (8b in 35211, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Birmingham's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (30 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 USW00013876; 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 Birmingham ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Birmingham's 27 ZIP code areas run from zone 8a to 8b: 20 in 8a and 7 in 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
| ZIP code | Zone | Land in Birmingham |
|---|---|---|
| 35061 | 8a | 3.0 km² |
| 35068 | 8a | 8.5 km² |
| 35094 | 8a | 17.5 km² |
| 35203 | 8a | 5.4 km² |
| 35204 | 8a | 13.0 km² |
| 35205 | 8b | 9.6 km² |
| 35206 | 8a | 25.7 km² |
| 35207 | 8a | 22.9 km² |
| 35208 | 8a | 9.5 km² |
| 35209 | 8b | 5.7 km² |
| 35210 | 8a | 18.8 km² |
| 35211 | 8b | 41.4 km² |
| 35212 | 8a | 16.0 km² |
| 35213 | 8b | 5.1 km² |
| 35214 | 8a | 25.0 km² |
| 35215 | 8a | 24.8 km² |
| 35217 | 8a | 10.3 km² |
| 35218 | 8a | 6.8 km² |
| 35221 | 8a | 6.4 km² |
| 35222 | 8a | 10.1 km² |
| 35224 | 8b | 13.1 km² |
| 35228 | 8a | 3.9 km² |
| 35233 | 8a | 3.9 km² |
| 35234 | 8a | 8.7 km² |
| 35235 | 8a | 14.9 km² |
| 35242 | 8b | 17.7 km² |
| 35243 | 8b | 4.6 km² |
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 Birmingham?
In a normal year in Birmingham, 65 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 47 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 65a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 47a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in Birmingham's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1895) is 107°F, on July 29, 1930; the lowest is −10°F, on February 13, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1929, with 81.82 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 13.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013876; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record BHMthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Birmingham, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 68°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 70°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (33°F). February is the windiest month (7.6 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (62%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 64% | 44% | 6.9 mph | 48% | 34% |
| February | 39°F | 62% | 44% | 7.6 mph | 46% | 34% |
| March | 46°F | 61% | 42% | 7.4 mph | 48% | 26% |
| April | 54°F | 66% | 46% | 6.7 mph | 50% | 20% |
| May | 64°F | 70% | 52% | 5.6 mph | 44% | 19% |
| June | 68°F | 70% | 52% | 5.3 mph | 47% | 14% |
| July | 70°F | 71% | 53% | 4.8 mph | 48% | 12% |
| August | 67°F | 70% | 51% | 4.9 mph | 52% | 13% |
| September | 58°F | 68% | 47% | 5.4 mph | 62% | 16% |
| October | 48°F | 68% | 45% | 5.5 mph | 58% | 22% |
| November | 39°F | 68% | 48% | 6.2 mph | 53% | 29% |
| December | 35°F | 69% | 52% | 6.8 mph | 45% | 38% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013876. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Birmingham?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Birmingham, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (67%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 243rd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.7 |
| February | 67% | 3.2 |
| March | 72% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 79% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| 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 Birmingham need?
A normal year in Birmingham brings 2,533 heating degree days, 53% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,177 cooling degree days, 2.4 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 5,764 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 631 | 2 |
| February | 459 | 4 |
| March | 301 | 23 |
| April | 117 | 74 |
| May | 21 | 223 |
| June | 0 | 399 |
| July | 0 | 513 |
| August | 0 | 494 |
| September | 6 | 324 |
| October | 105 | 104 |
| November | 344 | 14 |
| December | 550 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,533 | 2,177 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013876. 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 Birmingham been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.7°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.9°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.6°F | +0.7°F | 71.03 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 64.5°F | +0.6°F | 64.09 | 0.8 |
| 2023 | 65.9°F | +2.0°F | 48.72 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 66.2°F | +2.3°F | 48.86 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 64.7°F | +0.8°F | 48.20 | 2.0 |
Over 88 complete years from 1931 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013876; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Birmingham's climate compare?
Birmingham is warmer than 44 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 29. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.9°F is warmer than 85%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Birmingham 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 Birmingham share this climate record?
20 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.
- Vestavia Hills, AL38,151 people · 7 mi S
- Homewood, AL27,919 people · 8 mi SW
- Mountain Brook, AL21,701 people · 5 mi S
- Irondale, AL13,545 people · 5 mi E
- Leeds, AL12,573 people · 10 mi E
- Fultondale, AL9,325 people · 5 mi NW
- Forestdale, AL9,149 people · 9 mi W
- Brook Highland, AL8,428 people · 9 mi S
- Tarrant, AL5,806 people · 2 mi NW
- Highland Lakes, AL5,673 people · 13 mi SE
- Adamsville, AL4,181 people · 13 mi W
- Mount Olive, AL3,449 people · 10 mi NW
- Eagle Point, AL2,929 people · 12 mi S
- Graysville, AL1,859 people · 12 mi NW
- Shoal Creek, AL1,371 people · 12 mi SE
- Brookside, AL1,357 people · 10 mi NW
- Dunnavant, AL1,010 people · 13 mi E
- Vandiver, AL890 people · 14 mi SE
- West Jefferson, AL477 people · 19 mi NW
- Cardiff, AL57 people · 12 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 Birmingham's climate
What is the coldest month in Birmingham?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Birmingham?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (0.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Birmingham?
March, with 5.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.34 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Birmingham in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Birmingham in zones 8a to 8b across its 27 ZIP code areas (8b in 35211, the largest). By the same method at Birmingham's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Birmingham?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 21; in one year in ten it comes after April 8. Waiting until April 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Birmingham in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pinson, AL9 miles from this station, 61.5°F a year
- Bessemer, AL19 miles from this station, 63.7°F a year
- Helena, AL21 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Alabaster, AL27 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made