Bristol, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bristol's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 44.0 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.7°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,117 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBristol Airport
- Station IDUSW00013877
- Location36.47°N 82.40°W
- Elevation1,500 ft (457 m)
- Population27,867
On October 14, the normal high in Bristol is 71°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bristol.
- Jan 47° 26°
- Feb 51° 29°
- Mar 59° 35°
- Apr 69° 43°
- May 77° 52°
- Jun 84° 61°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 86° 63°
- Sep 81° 56°
- Oct 70° 44°
- Nov 59° 34°
- Dec 50° 29°
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 Bristol each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.00 in), the least in October (2.52 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 26°F | 36.4°F | 3.65 | 3.0 | 13 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 51°F | 29°F | 40.0°F | 3.81 | 3.0 | 13 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 59°F | 35°F | 47.4°F | 3.96 | 1.1 | 14 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 43°F | 56.4°F | 3.79 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 52°F | 64.7°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 61°F | 72.3°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.6°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 13 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 86°F | 63°F | 74.5°F | 3.76 | 0.0 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 56°F | 68.6°F | 2.84 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 44°F | 57.3°F | 2.52 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 34°F | 46.4°F | 3.14 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 29°F | 39.3°F | 3.76 | 1.7 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 45°F | 56.6°F | 43.97 | 9.2 | 138 | 23 | 94 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −3°C | 2.4°C | 93 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 11°C | −2°C | 4.4°C | 97 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 101 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 21°C | 6°C | 13.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 11°C | 18.2°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 14.1°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 1°C | 8.0°C | 80 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 10°C | −2°C | 4.1°C | 96 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013877; 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 Bristol?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, 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 USW00013877.
When is the last frost in Bristol?
In Bristol, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 11 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 161 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after March 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 190 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 212 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bristol in zone 7a in ZIP code 37620. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bristol's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°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 USW00013877; 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 Bristol?
In a normal year in Bristol, 23 days a year reach 90°F, 94 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 138 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 94a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 138a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1937) is 103°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −21°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 65.64 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 51.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013877; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00013877. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bristol?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bristol, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.8 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 75% | 5.9 |
| August | 78% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 74% | 2.7 |
| December | 65% | 2.0 |
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 Bristol need?
A normal year in Bristol brings 4,150 heating degree days, 23% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,105 cooling degree days, 22% 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 3,903 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 887 | 0 |
| February | 699 | 0 |
| March | 547 | 1 |
| April | 273 | 13 |
| May | 91 | 81 |
| June | 7 | 225 |
| July | 0 | 327 |
| August | 1 | 295 |
| September | 36 | 142 |
| October | 259 | 19 |
| November | 557 | 1 |
| December | 795 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,150 | 1,105 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013877. 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 Bristol been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.9°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 56.6°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.0°F | +1.4°F | 39.78 | 5.4 |
| 2022 | 57.5°F | +0.9°F | 42.38 | 10.2 |
| 2023 | 58.4°F | +1.8°F | 38.87 | 0.1 |
| 2024 | 58.8°F | +2.2°F | 42.99 | 4.6 |
| 2025 | 56.9°F | +0.3°F | 44.41 | 7.6 |
Over 79 complete years from 1940 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013877; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bristol's climate compare?
Bristol is warmer than 18 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 0. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.6°F is warmer than 65%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bristol 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 Bristol share this climate record?
7 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.
- Bristol, VA16,316 people · 17 mi NE
- Oak Grove, TN4,483 people · 4 mi SW
- Spurgeon, TN3,749 people · 4 mi SW
- Blountville, TN3,301 people · 6 mi NE
- Bluff City, TN1,838 people · 7 mi E
- Gray, TN1,606 people · 5 mi SW
- Mendota, VA125 people · 17 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 Bristol's climate
What is the coldest month in Bristol?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Bristol?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bristol?
July, with 5.00 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.52 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bristol in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bristol in zone 7a in ZIP code 37620. By the same method at Bristol's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Bristol?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kingsport, TN7 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Elizabethton, TN12 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Erwin, TN23 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Roan Mountain, TN27 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made