Bolivar, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bolivar's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 56.1 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.3°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,426 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBolivar Water Works
- Station IDUSC00400876
- Location35.26°N 88.99°W
- Elevation455 ft (139 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,084
On October 14, the normal high in Bolivar is 74°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bolivar.
- Jan 49° 28°
- Feb 54° 31°
- Mar 62° 39°
- Apr 72° 48°
- May 79° 57°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 84° 60°
- Oct 73° 48°
- Nov 61° 37°
- Dec 52° 31°
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 Bolivar each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.86 in), the least in August (3.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 28°F | 38.5°F | 4.26 | 0.5 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 54°F | 31°F | 42.3°F | 4.95 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 5.86 | 0.4 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 48°F | 59.7°F | 5.61 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 57°F | 68.1°F | 5.33 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.8°F | 4.71 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.3°F | 4.39 | 0.0 | 10 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 78.2°F | 3.46 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 60°F | 71.6°F | 3.90 | 0.0 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 48°F | 60.4°F | 3.95 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 37°F | 49.1°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 31°F | 41.4°F | 5.47 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 48°F | 59.6°F | 56.14 | 1.7 | 116 | 49 | 75 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 108 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 126 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 149 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 142 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 22.0°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 3°C | 9.5°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 139 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00400876; 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 Bolivar?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, 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 USC00400876.
When is the last frost in Bolivar?
In Bolivar, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 3 in half of years and after April 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 30 in half of years and before October 17 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 31 year in 10 after April 19; 9 in 10 after March 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 301 year in 10 before October 17; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 210 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 234 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 21 in half of springs and before November 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bolivar in zone 7b in ZIP code 38008, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bolivar's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00400876; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get in Bolivar?
In a normal year in Bolivar, 49 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 75 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 116 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 75a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 116a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 109°F, on July 29, 1930; the lowest is −18°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1950, with 77.32 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 19.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00400876; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00400876. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bolivar?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bolivar, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.4 |
| February | 64% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 74% | 2.8 |
| December | 66% | 2.1 |
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 Bolivar need?
A normal year in Bolivar brings 3,595 heating degree days, 33% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,652 cooling degree days, 82% 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 4,758 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 820 | 0 |
| February | 637 | 1 |
| March | 457 | 8 |
| April | 201 | 43 |
| May | 52 | 148 |
| June | 2 | 327 |
| July | 0 | 442 |
| August | 0 | 408 |
| September | 22 | 220 |
| October | 193 | 51 |
| November | 480 | 5 |
| December | 732 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,595 | 1,652 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00400876. 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 Bolivar been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 60.6°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.6°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 61.0°F | +1.4°F | 52.23 | 0.2 |
| 2024 | 61.3°F | +1.7°F | 63.57 | 6.5 |
| 2025 | 60.6°F | +1.0°F | – | 9.0 |
Over 63 complete years from 1950 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.1°F per century (+0.17°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00400876; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bolivar's climate compare?
Bolivar is warmer than 90 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 59. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.6°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bolivar 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 Bolivar share this climate record?
3 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.
- Whiteville, TN4,564 people · 10 mi NW
- Toone, TN265 people · 7 mi N
- Hornsby, TN257 people · 9 mi E
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 Bolivar's climate
What is the coldest month in Bolivar?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Bolivar?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bolivar?
March, with 5.86 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bolivar in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bolivar in zone 7b in ZIP code 38008, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bolivar's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Bolivar?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 3; in one year in ten it comes after April 19. Waiting until April 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ames Plantation, TN16 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Henderson, TN19 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Selmer, TN23 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Jackson, TN23 miles from this station, 60.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made