Bowling Green, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bowling Green's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 50.1 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.1°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,273 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBowling Green Warren County Airport
- Station IDUSW00093808
- Location36.96°N 86.42°W
- Elevation528 ft (161 m)
- Population79,076
On October 23, the normal high in Bowling Green is 69°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bowling Green.
- Jan 46° 28°
- Feb 51° 31°
- Mar 60° 38°
- Apr 71° 47°
- May 79° 57°
- Jun 87° 66°
- Jul 90° 70°
- Aug 89° 68°
- Sep 83° 60°
- Oct 72° 48°
- Nov 59° 38°
- Dec 49° 32°
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 Bowling Green 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 May (5.03 in), the least in October (3.63 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 | 46°F | 28°F | 37.2°F | 3.64 | 3.2 | 11 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 51°F | 31°F | 41.1°F | 4.07 | 2.9 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 38°F | 49.2°F | 4.54 | 1.4 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 47°F | 59.0°F | 4.81 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 57°F | 68.0°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 87°F | 66°F | 76.1°F | 4.51 | 0.0 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 70°F | 79.7°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 89°F | 68°F | 78.5°F | 3.89 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 60°F | 71.4°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 48°F | 60.0°F | 3.63 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 38°F | 48.4°F | 3.73 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 49°F | 32°F | 40.5°F | 4.35 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 49°F | 59.1°F | 50.10 | 8.5 | 126 | 47 | 82 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −2°C | 2.9°C | 92 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 11°C | 0°C | 5.1°C | 103 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 115 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 20.0°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.5°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.5°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 25.8°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | 0°C | 4.7°C | 110 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093808; 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 Bowling Green?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00093808.
When is the last frost in Bowling Green?
In Bowling Green, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 20 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 51 year in 10 after April 21; 9 in 10 after March 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 232 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 24 in half of springs and before November 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bowling Green in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 42103, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bowling Green's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (29 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 Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093808; 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 Bowling Green ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Bowling Green'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 Bowling Green?
In a normal year in Bowling Green, 47 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 82 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 126 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 47a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 82a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 126a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 113°F, on July 28, 1930; the lowest is −21°F, on January 24, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1979, with 76.56 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 48.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093808; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093808. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Bowling Green, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 67°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 68°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (27°F). February is the windiest month (7.7 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (74%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 67% | 52% | 7.1 mph | 50% | 38% |
| February | 32°F | 64% | 48% | 7.7 mph | 51% | 38% |
| March | 41°F | 63% | 46% | 7.7 mph | 60% | 28% |
| April | 51°F | 68% | 51% | 6.9 mph | 58% | 24% |
| May | 62°F | 71% | 54% | 5.9 mph | 64% | 18% |
| June | 67°F | 71% | 54% | 5.2 mph | 70% | 10% |
| July | 68°F | 72% | 52% | 4.6 mph | 71% | 9% |
| August | 66°F | 72% | 51% | 4.5 mph | 72% | 12% |
| September | 55°F | 71% | 47% | 4.8 mph | 74% | 14% |
| October | 43°F | 69% | 49% | 5.5 mph | 62% | 27% |
| November | 34°F | 71% | 55% | 6.5 mph | 56% | 35% |
| December | 30°F | 72% | 59% | 6.9 mph | 48% | 44% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093808. 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 Bowling Green?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bowling Green, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (62%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 304th (with 25 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 3.9 |
| April | 74% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 64% | 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 Bowling Green need?
A normal year in Bowling Green brings 3,797 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,676 cooling degree days, 85% 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 4,705 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 860 | 0 |
| February | 671 | 1 |
| March | 497 | 7 |
| April | 220 | 40 |
| May | 59 | 150 |
| June | 3 | 336 |
| July | 0 | 456 |
| August | 0 | 419 |
| September | 24 | 217 |
| October | 201 | 46 |
| November | 502 | 4 |
| December | 760 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,797 | 1,676 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093808. 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 Bowling Green been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 60.5°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.6°F | +0.5°F | 54.18 | 9.0 |
| 2022 | 59.4°F | +0.3°F | 42.87 | – |
| 2023 | 60.8°F | +1.6°F | 41.62 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 61.8°F | +2.7°F | 51.68 | 5.1 |
| 2025 | 60.5°F | +1.4°F | 59.05 | 10.1 |
Over 118 complete years from 1889 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.3°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 USW00093808; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bowling Green's climate compare?
Bowling Green is warmer than 64 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 25. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.1°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green 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.
- Plano, KY1,293 people · 6 mi S
- Plum Springs, KY549 people · 5 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Bowling Green's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Bowling Green. This page uses Bowling Green Warren County Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green (21 mi NNE) USW00063849 | 22 mi NE | 790 ft | 57.5°F | 27°F | 86°F | 53.0 | – | April 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Bowling Green's climate
What is the coldest month in Bowling Green?
January, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Bowling Green?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bowling Green?
May, with 5.03 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.63 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bowling Green in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bowling Green in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 42103, the largest). By the same method at Bowling Green's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Bowling Green?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 21. Waiting until April 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Bowling Green in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Barren River Lake, KY17 miles from this station, 57.4°F a year
- Scottsville, KY19 miles from this station, 57.0°F a year
- Mammoth Cave, KY19 miles from this station, 60.2°F a year
- Nolin River Lake, KY24 miles from this station, 57.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made