Brinkley, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Brinkley's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 51.2 inches of precipitation and 3 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.1°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,300 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBrinkley
- Station IDUSC00030936
- Location34.88°N 91.22°W
- Elevation185 ft (56 m)
- Population2,538
On October 22, the normal high in Brinkley is 71°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Brinkley.
- Jan 48° 31°
- Feb 53° 34°
- Mar 61° 42°
- Apr 71° 51°
- May 80° 60°
- Jun 87° 69°
- Jul 90° 72°
- Aug 90° 70°
- Sep 84° 63°
- Oct 74° 51°
- Nov 61° 41°
- Dec 51° 34°
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 Brinkley each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.27 in), the least in September (2.96 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 31°F | 39.2°F | 3.78 | 0.7 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 34°F | 43.2°F | 4.09 | 1.1 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 42°F | 51.4°F | 4.98 | 0.8 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 51°F | 60.7°F | 5.56 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 60°F | 69.9°F | 6.27 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 69°F | 78.1°F | 3.51 | 0.0 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 72°F | 81.1°F | 3.33 | 0.0 | 6 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 90°F | 70°F | 80.0°F | 3.14 | 0.0 | 4 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 63°F | 73.2°F | 2.96 | 0.0 | 5 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 51°F | 62.2°F | 3.97 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 41°F | 50.5°F | 4.52 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 34°F | 42.4°F | 5.08 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 51°F | 61.0°F | 51.19 | 2.7 | 84 | 55 | 60 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −1°C | 4.0°C | 96 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 12°C | 1°C | 6.2°C | 104 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 16°C | 5°C | 10.8°C | 126 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 10°C | 15.9°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 16°C | 21.1°C | 159 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 21°C | 25.6°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 22°C | 27.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.7°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 5°C | 10.3°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 1°C | 5.8°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030936; 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 Brinkley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00030936.
When is the last frost in Brinkley?
In Brinkley, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 18 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 28 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 181 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after March 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 28; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 237 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 261 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 6 in half of springs and before November 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Brinkley in zone 8a in ZIP code 72021, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Brinkley's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00030936; 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 Brinkley?
In a normal year in Brinkley, 55 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 60 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 55a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 60a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1883) is 111°F, on July 29, 1930; the lowest is −12°F, on February 12, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1923, with 74.91 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 21.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00030936; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00030936. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Brinkley?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Brinkley, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 66% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 78% | 6.0 |
| June | 84% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.5 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 83% | 5.0 |
| October | 78% | 3.9 |
| November | 75% | 2.9 |
| December | 70% | 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 Brinkley need?
A normal year in Brinkley brings 3,358 heating degree days, 37% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,933 cooling degree days, 2.1 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 5,140 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 800 | 1 |
| February | 611 | 1 |
| March | 430 | 9 |
| April | 177 | 50 |
| May | 33 | 186 |
| June | 1 | 393 |
| July | 0 | 498 |
| August | 0 | 465 |
| September | 13 | 260 |
| October | 152 | 64 |
| November | 440 | 7 |
| December | 701 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,358 | 1,933 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030936. 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 Brinkley been warmer than normal lately?
Over 84 complete years from 1892 to 2015, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted -1.1°F per century (−0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Brinkley's climate compare?
Brinkley is warmer than 39 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.0°F is warmer than 77%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Brinkley 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 Brinkley share this climate record?
5 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.
- Cotton Plant, AR490 people · 9 mi N
- Wheatley, AR262 people · 7 mi NE
- Hunter, AR103 people · 13 mi NE
- Goodwin, AR61 people · 13 mi E
- Fargo, AR56 people · 5 mi N
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 Brinkley's climate
What is the coldest month in Brinkley?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Brinkley?
Yes: 3 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (1.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Brinkley?
May, with 6.27 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 2.96 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Brinkley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Brinkley in zone 8a in ZIP code 72021, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Brinkley's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Brinkley?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 18; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clarendon, AR14 miles from this station, 61.5°F a year
- Des Arc, AR17 miles from this station, 62.7°F a year
- Marianna, AR27 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Stuttgart, AR30 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made