Canton, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Canton's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 38.2 inches of precipitation and 77 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.9°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 26°C, 970 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCanton (4 mi SE)
- Station IDUSW00014743
- Location44.58°N 75.11°W
- Elevation448 ft (137 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population6,957
On October 12, the normal high in Canton is 59°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 44%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Canton.
- Jan 27° 7°
- Feb 30° 8°
- Mar 39° 19°
- Apr 53° 33°
- May 67° 45°
- Jun 75° 55°
- Jul 80° 59°
- Aug 78° 57°
- Sep 71° 49°
- Oct 58° 38°
- Nov 45° 28°
- Dec 34° 16°
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 Canton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.85 in), the least in February (1.99 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 7°F | 16.8°F | 2.23 | 18.9 | 13 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 8°F | 19.1°F | 1.99 | 17.5 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 19°F | 29.0°F | 2.29 | 12.5 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 33°F | 42.9°F | 3.05 | 3.5 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 45°F | 55.9°F | 3.15 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 75°F | 55°F | 64.9°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 80°F | 59°F | 69.4°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 78°F | 57°F | 67.3°F | 3.41 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 49°F | 59.8°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 38°F | 48.0°F | 4.85 | 0.2 | 14 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| November | 45°F | 28°F | 36.7°F | 2.91 | 5.1 | 12 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 34°F | 16°F | 24.8°F | 2.63 | 19.6 | 14 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 34°F | 44.5°F | 38.19 | 77.3 | 147 | 3 | 161 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −14°C | −8.4°C | 57 mm | 48 cm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −7.2°C | 51 mm | 44 cm |
| March | 4°C | −7°C | −1.7°C | 58 mm | 32 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 77 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 13°C | 18.3°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 19.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 123 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −2°C | 2.6°C | 74 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 1°C | −9°C | −4.0°C | 67 mm | 50 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014743; 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 Canton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USW00014743.
When is the last frost in Canton?
In Canton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 in half of years and before September 16 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
- May 91 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 16; 9 in 10 before October 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 142 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Canton in zone 4b in ZIP code 13617, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Canton's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014743; 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 Canton?
In a normal year in Canton, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 161 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 147 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 161a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 64high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 147a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 27a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 99°F, on August 15, 1944; the lowest is −43°F, on February 17, 1896.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1954, with 50.39 in; the snowiest season is 1970–71, with 169.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014743; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00014743. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Canton?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Canton, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (77%) and December the cloudiest (51%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 57% | 1.4 |
| February | 62% | 2.3 |
| March | 67% | 3.5 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 70% | 5.4 |
| June | 72% | 5.8 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 77% | 5.2 |
| September | 75% | 4.1 |
| October | 63% | 2.4 |
| November | 60% | 1.5 |
| December | 51% | 1.1 |
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 Canton need?
A normal year in Canton brings 7,844 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 431 cooling degree days, 52% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,278 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,496 | 0 |
| February | 1,284 | 0 |
| March | 1,118 | 0 |
| April | 665 | 2 |
| May | 303 | 23 |
| June | 88 | 85 |
| July | 23 | 159 |
| August | 47 | 119 |
| September | 196 | 40 |
| October | 530 | 3 |
| November | 848 | 0 |
| December | 1,248 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,844 | 431 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014743. 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.
How does Canton's climate compare?
Canton is warmer than 15 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.5°F is warmer than 17%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Canton is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Canton share this climate record?
4 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.
- Madrid, NY753 people · 12 mi N
- Hermon, NY603 people · 10 mi SW
- DeKalb Junction, NY512 people · 10 mi SW
- Rensselaer Falls, NY319 people · 10 mi W
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 Canton's climate
What is the coldest month in Canton?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Canton?
Yes: 77 inches in a normal year, falling on 37 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (19.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Canton?
October, with 4.85 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.99 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Canton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Canton in zone 4b in ZIP code 13617, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Canton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Canton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; in one year in ten it comes after May 25. Waiting until May 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Colton, NY7 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Ogdensburg, NY19 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Lawrenceville (3 mi SW), NY25 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Gouverneur, NY25 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made