Cedar Island, North Carolina climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Cedar Island's normal year runs from 38°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 59.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 19.2°C, January lows of 3°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,510 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCedar Island
- Station IDUSC00311606
- Location34.98°N 76.30°W
- Elevation8 ft (2 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Cedar Island is 78°F and the normal low 56°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cedar Island.
- Jan 62° 38°
- Feb 63° 39°
- Mar 69° 45°
- Apr 77° 54°
- May 84° 62°
- Jun 90° 69°
- Jul 93° 73°
- Aug 91° 72°
- Sep 87° 69°
- Oct 79° 59°
- Nov 70° 48°
- Dec 64° 41°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Cedar Island each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 38°F. The most precipitation falls in August (7.98 in), the least in April (3.63 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62°F | 38°F | 49.7°F | 4.59 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| February | 63°F | 39°F | 51.3°F | 3.67 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 69°F | 45°F | 57.2°F | 3.94 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 77°F | 54°F | 65.6°F | 3.63 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 62°F | 72.7°F | 4.32 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 90°F | 69°F | 79.6°F | 4.37 | 11 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 73°F | 82.9°F | 6.70 | 13 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 72°F | 81.7°F | 7.98 | 13 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 69°F | 77.6°F | 7.12 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 79°F | 59°F | 68.9°F | 4.45 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 70°F | 48°F | 59.2°F | 4.12 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 64°F | 41°F | 52.4°F | 4.56 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 56°F | 66.6°F | 59.45 | 123 | 49 | 34 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 117 mm |
| February | 17°C | 4°C | 10.7°C | 93 mm |
| March | 21°C | 7°C | 14.0°C | 100 mm |
| April | 25°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 92 mm |
| May | 29°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 110 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.4°C | 111 mm |
| July | 34°C | 23°C | 28.3°C | 170 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.6°C | 203 mm |
| September | 30°C | 20°C | 25.3°C | 181 mm |
| October | 26°C | 15°C | 20.5°C | 113 mm |
| November | 21°C | 9°C | 15.1°C | 105 mm |
| December | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 116 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Ocracoke (20 miles away), gets 2 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00311606; 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.
Which months are mildest at Cedar Island?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October 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 USC00311606.
When is the last frost at Cedar Island?
In Cedar Island, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 11 in half of years and after March 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 30 in half of years and before November 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
- March 111 year in 10 after March 30; 9 in 10 after February 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 301 year in 10 before November 11; 9 in 10 before December 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 261 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 294 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 27 in half of springs and before December 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cedar Island in zone 8b in ZIP code 28511, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (25 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 USC00311606; 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 at Cedar Island?
In a normal year in Cedar Island, 49 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 34 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 34a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1955) is 103°F, on July 25, 2010; the lowest is 2°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1962, with 79.56 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 18.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00311606; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00311606. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Cedar Island?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Cedar Island, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 71% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.4 |
| April | 79% | 5.6 |
| May | 81% | 6.2 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 71% | 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 many heating and cooling degree days does Cedar Island record?
A normal year at Cedar Island brings 1,861 heating degree days, 65% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,462 cooling degree days, 2.7 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,382 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 478 | 3 |
| February | 390 | 5 |
| March | 263 | 23 |
| April | 78 | 96 |
| May | 9 | 248 |
| June | 0 | 438 |
| July | 0 | 553 |
| August | 0 | 516 |
| September | 1 | 379 |
| October | 41 | 162 |
| November | 206 | 32 |
| December | 397 | 8 |
| Year (annual) | 1,861 | 2,462 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00311606. 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.
Have recent years at Cedar Island been warmer than normal?
2021 averaged 66.7°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 66.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66.7°F | +0.1°F | 52.61 |
Over 55 complete years from 1957 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.6°F per century (+0.31°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00311606; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cedar Island's climate compare?
Cedar Island is warmer than 131 of the 131 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 115. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 66.6°F is warmer than 91%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cedar Island 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 Cedar Island share this climate record?
Atlantic has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Atlantic, NC541 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 Cedar Island's climate
What is the coldest month at Cedar Island?
January, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 38°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow at Cedar Island?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Ocracoke (20 miles away), records 2 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Cedar Island?
August, with 7.98 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.63 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cedar Island in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cedar Island in zone 8b in ZIP code 28511, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come at Cedar Island?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 11; in one year in ten it comes after March 30. Waiting until March 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ocracoke, NC20 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Beaufort, NC27 miles from this station, 63.8°F a year
- Swanquarter Ferry, NC29 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Morehead City, NC30 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made