Blacksburg, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Blacksburg's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 42.6 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,083 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBlacksburg Nwso
- Station IDUSC00440766
- Location37.20°N 80.41°W
- Elevation2,103 ft (641 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population45,452
On October 14, the normal high in Blacksburg is 66°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Blacksburg.
- Jan 42° 22°
- Feb 45° 24°
- Mar 53° 30°
- Apr 64° 39°
- May 72° 48°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 81° 60°
- Sep 76° 53°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 55° 31°
- Dec 45° 25°
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 Blacksburg each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.47 in), the least in February (2.83 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 | 42°F | 22°F | 31.9°F | 3.23 | 7.7 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 45°F | 24°F | 34.7°F | 2.83 | 7.0 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 53°F | 30°F | 41.7°F | 3.78 | 4.3 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 39°F | 51.4°F | 3.77 | 0.6 | 13 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 48°F | 60.2°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.9°F | 4.27 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.7°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 60°F | 70.4°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 76°F | 53°F | 64.3°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.2°F | 2.91 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 31°F | 42.7°F | 2.85 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 25°F | 35.1°F | 3.30 | 4.7 | 12 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 41°F | 52.1°F | 42.64 | 24.7 | 136 | 5 | 125 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −5°C | −0.1°C | 82 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 7°C | −4°C | 1.5°C | 72 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 96 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 96 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.7°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 7°C | −4°C | 1.7°C | 84 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00440766; 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 Blacksburg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00440766.
When is the last frost in Blacksburg?
In Blacksburg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 24 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 6 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
- April 241 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 6; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 199 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Blacksburg in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 24060, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Blacksburg's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00440766; 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 Blacksburg ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Blacksburg's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7a. 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 Blacksburg?
In a normal year in Blacksburg, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 125 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 136 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 125a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 136a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in Blacksburg's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1893) is 100°F, on July 22, 1926; the lowest is −27°F, on December 30, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1918, with 65.56 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 53.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00440766; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record RNKthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Blacksburg?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Blacksburg, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.2 |
| February | 65% | 2.9 |
| March | 67% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.1 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 75% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 74% | 4.4 |
| October | 72% | 3.4 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 65% | 1.9 |
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 Blacksburg need?
A normal year in Blacksburg brings 5,295 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 619 cooling degree days, 32% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,974 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,028 | 0 |
| February | 848 | 0 |
| March | 722 | 0 |
| April | 411 | 3 |
| May | 183 | 32 |
| June | 34 | 121 |
| July | 5 | 211 |
| August | 10 | 175 |
| September | 89 | 69 |
| October | 371 | 7 |
| November | 668 | 0 |
| December | 927 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,295 | 619 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00440766. 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 Blacksburg been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.6°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.6°F | +1.5°F | 42.81 | 17.7 |
| 2022 | 52.8°F | +0.7°F | 45.10 | 14.6 |
| 2023 | 54.7°F | +2.6°F | 40.66 | 1.8 |
| 2024 | 55.2°F | +3.1°F | 35.98 | 3.4 |
| 2025 | 52.6°F | +0.5°F | 36.24 | 19.2 |
Over 115 complete years from 1894 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00440766; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Blacksburg's climate compare?
Blacksburg is warmer than 3 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.1°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Blacksburg is Dfa: continental, 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 Blacksburg share this climate record?
2 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.
- Merrimac, VA2,955 people · 1 mi SW
- Prices Fork, VA909 people · 4 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 Blacksburg's climate
What is the coldest month in Blacksburg?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Blacksburg?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Blacksburg?
May, with 4.47 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.83 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Blacksburg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Blacksburg in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 24060, the largest). By the same method at Blacksburg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Blacksburg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 24; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Blacksburg in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Christiansburg, VA6 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Radford, VA9 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Pearisburg, VA16 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Copper Hill, VA17 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made