Cary, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cary's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 48.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,240 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCary
- Station IDUSC00311535
- Location35.72°N 78.79°W
- Elevation390 ft (119 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population182,659
On October 22, the normal high in Cary is 69°F and the normal low 47°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cary.
- Jan 50° 31°
- Feb 54° 33°
- Mar 61° 39°
- Apr 71° 47°
- May 78° 56°
- Jun 85° 65°
- Jul 88° 69°
- Aug 86° 68°
- Sep 80° 62°
- Oct 71° 50°
- Nov 62° 39°
- Dec 53° 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 Cary each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in September (5.57 in), the least in February (2.90 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50°F | 31°F | 40.7°F | 3.54 | – | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 54°F | 33°F | 43.3°F | 2.90 | – | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 39°F | 49.9°F | 4.04 | – | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 47°F | 59.0°F | 3.73 | – | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 78°F | 56°F | 67.2°F | 3.74 | – | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 85°F | 65°F | 74.8°F | 4.59 | – | 8 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 88°F | 69°F | 78.6°F | 5.31 | – | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 86°F | 68°F | 76.9°F | 4.81 | – | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 80°F | 62°F | 70.9°F | 5.57 | – | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 50°F | 60.4°F | 3.54 | – | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 3.50 | – | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 53°F | 34°F | 43.7°F | 3.53 | – | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 49°F | 59.7°F | 48.80 | – | 33 | 71 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | 0°C | 4.8°C | 90 mm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 74 mm |
| March | 16°C | 4°C | 9.9°C | 103 mm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 95 mm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 95 mm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 117 mm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 25.9°C | 135 mm |
| August | 30°C | 20°C | 24.9°C | 122 mm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 141 mm |
| October | 22°C | 10°C | 15.8°C | 90 mm |
| November | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 89 mm |
| December | 12°C | 1°C | 6.5°C | 90 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Apex (3 miles away), gets 5 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00311535; 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 Cary?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October.
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 USC00311535.
When is the last frost in Cary?
In Cary, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 10 in half of years and before October 30 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 311 year in 10 after April 12; 9 in 10 after March 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 101 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before November 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 226 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 254 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 17 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cary in zone 8a across its 4 ZIP code areas (8a in 27519, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cary's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00311535; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Cary ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Cary's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Cary?
In a normal year in Cary, 33 days a year reach 90°F and 71 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 33a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 71a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00311535.
How sunny is Cary?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cary, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 210th (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 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 Cary need?
A normal year in Cary brings 3,430 heating degree days, 36% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,509 cooling degree days, 66% 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 4,605 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 753 | 0 |
| February | 608 | 1 |
| March | 473 | 6 |
| April | 220 | 38 |
| May | 64 | 132 |
| June | 4 | 296 |
| July | 0 | 422 |
| August | 1 | 371 |
| September | 20 | 197 |
| October | 184 | 42 |
| November | 444 | 4 |
| December | 661 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,430 | 1,509 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00311535. 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 Cary been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.5°F, 0.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 59.7°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.9°F | +0.2°F | – |
| 2022 | 59.7°F | at normal | 45.39 |
| 2023 | 60.4°F | +0.7°F | – |
| 2024 | 60.9°F | +1.2°F | – |
| 2025 | 59.5°F | −0.2°F | 39.41 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00311535. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cary's climate compare?
Cary is warmer than 65 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 48. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.7°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cary 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.
Questions about Cary's climate
What is the coldest month in Cary?
January, with a normal high of 50°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Cary?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Cary's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Apex (3 miles away), records 5 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Cary?
September, with 5.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.90 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cary in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cary in zone 8a across its 4 ZIP code areas (8a in 27519, the largest). By the same method at Cary's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Cary?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 12. Waiting until April 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Cary in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Apex, NC3 miles from this station, 60.1°F a year
- New Hill, NC7 miles from this station, 59.2°F a year
- Garner, NC8 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Raleigh, NC12 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made