Buckhannon, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Buckhannon's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 49.2 inches of precipitation and 39 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.4°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,250 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBuckhannon
- Station IDUSC00461220
- Location38.98°N 80.22°W
- Elevation1,455 ft (444 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,049
On October 24, the normal high in Buckhannon is 64°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 39%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Buckhannon.
- Jan 41° 21°
- Feb 44° 23°
- Mar 53° 29°
- Apr 66° 38°
- May 74° 49°
- Jun 81° 57°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 84° 60°
- Sep 79° 53°
- Oct 67° 41°
- Nov 55° 31°
- Dec 45° 26°
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 Buckhannon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.31 in), the least in November (3.03 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 21°F | 31.0°F | 3.61 | 11.9 | 17 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 23°F | 33.5°F | 3.29 | 11.3 | 15 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 29°F | 41.2°F | 4.15 | 6.7 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 38°F | 51.9°F | 3.82 | 0.7 | 14 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 49°F | 61.4°F | 5.18 | 0.0 | 16 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 57°F | 69.2°F | 5.10 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.1°F | 5.31 | 0.0 | 14 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 84°F | 60°F | 72.0°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 53°F | 65.8°F | 3.76 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 41°F | 53.8°F | 3.82 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 31°F | 42.9°F | 3.03 | 1.8 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 3.93 | 6.9 | 16 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 41°F | 52.6°F | 49.21 | 39.4 | 167 | 11 | 133 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.6°C | 92 mm | 30 cm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 0.8°C | 84 mm | 29 cm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 5.1°C | 105 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 19°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 97 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.3°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 77 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 7°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 100 mm | 18 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00461220; 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 Buckhannon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00461220.
When is the last frost in Buckhannon?
In Buckhannon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 6 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 291 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 6; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Buckhannon in zone 6b in ZIP code 26201, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Buckhannon's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (27 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 West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00461220; 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 Buckhannon?
In a normal year in Buckhannon, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 133 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 167 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 133a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 167a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1891) is 100°F, on September 3, 1953; the lowest is −31°F, on February 10, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1948, with 65.57 in; the snowiest season is 1976–77, with 98.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00461220; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00461220. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Buckhannon?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Buckhannon, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and January the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 56% | 1.8 |
| February | 58% | 2.5 |
| March | 63% | 3.6 |
| April | 67% | 4.8 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 74% | 6.0 |
| July | 74% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.4 |
| October | 69% | 3.2 |
| November | 68% | 2.3 |
| December | 57% | 1.6 |
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 Buckhannon need?
A normal year in Buckhannon brings 5,289 heating degree days, 2% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 802 cooling degree days, 12% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,242 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,055 | 0 |
| February | 881 | 0 |
| March | 738 | 0 |
| April | 400 | 7 |
| May | 166 | 53 |
| June | 29 | 155 |
| July | 2 | 255 |
| August | 5 | 222 |
| September | 74 | 98 |
| October | 359 | 12 |
| November | 663 | 0 |
| December | 916 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,289 | 802 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00461220. 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 Buckhannon been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.9°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.6°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 52.2°F | −0.4°F | 50.55 | 37.7 |
| 2023 | 53.7°F | +1.1°F | 41.13 | 7.0 |
| 2024 | 55.2°F | +2.6°F | 45.43 | – |
| 2025 | 52.9°F | +0.3°F | 49.47 | 50.8 |
Over 96 complete years from 1905 to 2025, 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: observed years: ACIS, station USC00461220; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Buckhannon's climate compare?
Buckhannon is warmer than 28 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 39. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.6°F is warmer than 52%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Buckhannon is Dfa: continental, 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 Buckhannon 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.
- Hinkleville, WV317 people · 5 mi SW
- Century, WV107 people · 8 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 Buckhannon's climate
What is the coldest month in Buckhannon?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Buckhannon?
Yes: 39 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Buckhannon?
July, with 5.31 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.03 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Buckhannon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Buckhannon in zone 6b in ZIP code 26201, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Buckhannon's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Buckhannon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rock Cave, WV10 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Stonewall Jackson Dam, WV14 miles from this station, 53.1°F a year
- Weston, WV14 miles from this station, 53.4°F a year
- Belington, WV16 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made