Carthage, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Carthage's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 52.5 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.7°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,334 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCarthage
- Station IDUSC00401480
- Location36.25°N 85.94°W
- Elevation515 ft (157 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,266
On October 23, the normal high in Carthage is 70°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Carthage.
- Jan 48° 27°
- Feb 53° 30°
- Mar 61° 36°
- Apr 71° 45°
- May 79° 54°
- Jun 86° 63°
- Jul 89° 67°
- Aug 88° 65°
- Sep 84° 59°
- Oct 73° 47°
- Nov 62° 36°
- Dec 52° 30°
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 Carthage each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.03 in), the least in September (3.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 27°F | 37.6°F | 4.49 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 30°F | 41.1°F | 4.86 | 0.7 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 36°F | 48.8°F | 5.01 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 45°F | 57.9°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 54°F | 66.4°F | 4.73 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 63°F | 74.2°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 67°F | 78.1°F | 4.97 | 0.0 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 65°F | 76.8°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 59°F | 71.3°F | 3.40 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 47°F | 59.8°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 36°F | 48.8°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 30°F | 41.1°F | 4.92 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 47°F | 58.5°F | 52.51 | 1.5 | 113 | 44 | 86 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −3°C | 3.1°C | 114 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 123 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 127 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 22°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 12°C | 19.1°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 19°C | 25.6°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 18°C | 24.9°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00401480; 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 Carthage?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00401480.
When is the last frost in Carthage?
In Carthage, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 10 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 17 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 101 year in 10 after April 27; 9 in 10 after March 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 17; 9 in 10 before November 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 201 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 223 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 30 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Carthage in zone 7b in ZIP code 37030, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Carthage's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (25 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 USC00401480; 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 Carthage?
In a normal year in Carthage, 44 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 86 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 113 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 44a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 86a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 113a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1890) is 111°F, on August 8, 1930; the lowest is −17°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1998, with 69.10 in; the snowiest season is 1966–67, with 20.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00401480; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00401480. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Carthage?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Carthage, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 63% | 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 Carthage need?
A normal year in Carthage brings 3,807 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,457 cooling degree days, 60% 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 4,450 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 851 | 0 |
| February | 671 | 1 |
| March | 508 | 4 |
| April | 238 | 25 |
| May | 75 | 118 |
| June | 5 | 283 |
| July | 0 | 405 |
| August | 1 | 367 |
| September | 21 | 209 |
| October | 203 | 42 |
| November | 491 | 3 |
| December | 743 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,807 | 1,457 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00401480. 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 Carthage been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 60.7°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.5°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.0°F | +0.5°F | 63.99 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 60.7°F | +2.2°F | 53.38 | 4.0 |
Over 50 complete years from 1951 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00401480; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Carthage's climate compare?
Carthage is warmer than 64 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.5°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Carthage 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 Carthage share this climate record?
3 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.
- South Carthage, TN1,584 people · 1 mi SW
- Gordonsville, TN1,387 people · 4 mi S
- Hickman, TN353 people · 7 mi S
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 Carthage's climate
What is the coldest month in Carthage?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Carthage?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (0.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Carthage?
June, with 5.03 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Carthage in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Carthage in zone 7b in ZIP code 37030, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Carthage's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Carthage?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 10; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lancaster Edgar Evins Marina, TN13 miles from this station, 59.4°F a year
- Hartsville/Trousdale County, TN16 miles from this station, 57.9°F a year
- Gainesboro, TN18 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Lafayette, TN19 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made