Bowling Green, KY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Bowling Green's primary NOAA station, BOWLING GREEN 21 NNE.
The climate verdict for Bowling Green
Water is the standout signal in Bowling Green, Kentucky: 53.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 58°F. Its climate comfort score of 68/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 56% of station-mapped location scores.
- 58°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 68/100
- comfort score, above 56% of station-mapped location scores
- 53.0"
- precipitation, annual total
- 210 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Bowling Green: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00063849 · Bowling Green, KY 58°F mean · 53.0" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 58°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,665
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Arch
- PRCP-WET 53.0"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-MID 68/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,036 HDD
- STN-1 USW00063849
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Arch, NM (+ 0.1 °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 KY station list.
- Bowling Green (this station) 58°F
- Hot Greenbay, VA 58°F
- Near Arch, NM 58°F
- Near Fort Pickett, VA 58°F
- Near Pfafftown, NC 58°F
Climate Living Index · Bowling Green
Bowling Green: 68/100 · grade C
Bowling Green publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Bowling Green, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 68/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 68 calendar days | 86/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 210 days/year | 71/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 57.5°F · 10.0° from 67.5°F | 68/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 53.0 in · 18.0 from 35 in | 36/100 · F |
Bowling Green · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Bowling Green is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 35.7°F and warmest-month mean 76.4°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 76.4°F
- Coldest month
- 35.7°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 Bowling Green sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Bowling Green's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 68th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 14% wettest
- Bowling Green's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 39th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Bowling Green compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Bowling Green's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
68 Top 44% score exceeds 56% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 4.1" | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 49°F (9°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 4.6" | 16.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 58°F (14°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 5.0" | 9.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 69°F (21°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 5.2" | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 76°F (25°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 5.5" | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 4.6" | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 6.9 |
| August | 85°F (30°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 3.1" | 0.0 | 6.5 |
| September | 80°F (27°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| October | 70°F (21°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.2" | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| November | 57°F (14°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 4.0" | 8.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 47°F (8°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 4.7" | 17.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 68 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 27°F near January 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 20, then returns to freezing around December 15, covering 68 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 April 24, when 45% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 15 at 28%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 133 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Bowling Green.
Where Bowling Green Stands Nationally
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 53 inches.
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Bowling Green earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
11.5 days with precipitation
12.5 days with precipitation
11.9 days with precipitation
13.0 days with precipitation
11.9 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
11.9 days with precipitation
Bowling Green spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 23% of the annual total and December through February 25%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Bowling Green has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 5.5" and August 3.1". The three wettest months together take 30% 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 Bowling Green, it arrives in quantity
53.0" of precipitation falls across only about 132 wet days here, averaging 0.40 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 132 a year, 36% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.40 inches
- Most wet days
- April, about 13
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 9
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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 31
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 4
50% probability date
Growing Season
210 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,036
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,338
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KY closest to Bowling Green 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 (58°F here).
- Abilene, KS 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Ashland, VA 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Branson, MO 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Charlotte, TN 58°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (53.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Kinston, NC 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Monticello, AR 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Rock Mills, AL 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Danbury, CT 53.0" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Bowling Green's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
Bowling Green's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,036 annual heating degree days against 1,338 for cooling. Its 40.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Bowling Green's frost-free season lasts about 210 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Bowling Green's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.7°F. The annual average is 58°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, Bowling Green carries 53.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Bowling Green's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Bowling Green, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Bowling Green's climate
How much rain does Bowling Green get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Bowling Green? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Bowling Green's primary station: BOWLING GREEN 21 NNE (USW00063849). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 2108902). Match rule for Bowling Green: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Bowling Green 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.