Charleston City, SC Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Charleston City's primary NOAA station, CHARLESTON CITY.
The climate verdict for Charleston City
Charleston City, South Carolina has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 67°F. It scores 100/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 99% of them.
- 67°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 100/100
- comfort score, above 99% of station-mapped location scores
- 44.3"
- annual precipitation
- 329 days
- frost-free growing season
Charleston City: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00013782 · Charleston City, SC 67°F mean · 44.3" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 67°F
- RANK-WARM #6,312
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Austin Great Hi…
- PRCP-MID 44.3"
- SWING-MID 32°F
- COMF-TOP 100/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USW00013782
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Austin Great Hills, TX (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every SC station list.
- Charleston City (this station) 67°F
- Hot De Ridder, LA 67°F
- Near Austin Great Hi…, TX 67°F
- Near Bainbridge Intl…, GA 67°F
- Near Beaufort Mcas, SC 67°F
Climate Living Index · Charleston City
Charleston City: 92/100 · grade A
Charleston City publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Charleston City, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 100/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 329 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 67.2°F · 0.3° from 67.5°F | 97/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 44.3 in · 9.3 from 35 in | 67/100 · C |
Charleston City · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Charleston City is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 50.8°F and warmest-month mean 82.3°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 82.3°F
- Coldest month
- 50.8°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Charleston City sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Charleston City's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 8% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Charleston City sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 67th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 88%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Charleston City is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Charleston City compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Charleston City's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
100 Top 1% score exceeds 99% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Charleston City's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 146 complete annual observations from 1871 to 2025, CHARLESTON CITY changed little at a fitted rate of 0.02°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Charleston City primary station fitted change +0.02 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F (14°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.6" | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.6" | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 66°F (19°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 3.0" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 72°F (22°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.0" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| May | 79°F (26°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| June | 84°F (29°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| July | 88°F (31°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 5.1" | 0.0 | 9.3 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 6.1" | 0.0 | 6.7 |
| September | 83°F (28°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 5.3" | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| October | 76°F (24°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.1" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| November | 67°F (19°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 2.3" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 61°F (16°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.9" | 1.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Charleston City: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 43°F near January 14 and 88°F near July 17.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 43°F around January 14.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 31, when 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 6 at 20%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 102 wet dates a year.
The widest day
January 10 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 15°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Charleston City.
Where Charleston City Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 15°F.
Charleston City earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
8.4 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
6.1 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
Charleston City runs a summer-peaked wet season
36% of Charleston City's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is August at 6.1", on a 31.5°F seasonal spread. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: August, September, July, taking 37% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: November at 2.3".
- Winter share: 18% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
When it rains in Charleston City, it arrives in quantity
44.3" of precipitation falls across only about 102 wet days here, averaging 0.43 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 102 a year, 28% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.43 inches
- Most wet days
- August, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- November, about 6
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 30
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 4
50% probability date
Growing Season
329 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
1,623
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,448
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SC closest to Charleston City on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (67°F here).
- Lake City, FL 67°F · 0.0°F off
- Monticello, MS 67°F · 0.0°F off
- Monticello, FL 67°F · 0.0°F off
- Wickenburg, AZ 67°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (44.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Auburn, NY 44.3" · 0.0" off
- Fulton, MO 44.3" · 0.0" off
- Washington, GA 44.2" · 0.0" off
- Pittsfield, MA 44.2" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Charleston City's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · moderate · mid swing
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Charleston City's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 31.5°F. The annual average is 67°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Charleston City's normal, at 1,623 and 2,448 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
The frost-free window extends for about 329 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
Charleston City's 44.3 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Charleston City's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Charleston City, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Charleston City's climate
How much rain does Charleston City get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Charleston City? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Charleston City's primary station: CHARLESTON CITY (USW00013782). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Charleston City; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Charleston City comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.