Columbia, Mississippi climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbia's normal year runs from 38°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 61.9 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 33°C, 1,572 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbia
- Station IDUSC00221865
- Location31.25°N 89.84°W
- Elevation150 ft (46 m)
- Population6,534
On October 22, the normal high in Columbia is 78°F and the normal low 53°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbia.
- Jan 60° 38°
- Feb 64° 42°
- Mar 71° 48°
- Apr 78° 55°
- May 85° 63°
- Jun 90° 70°
- Jul 92° 72°
- Aug 92° 72°
- Sep 88° 67°
- Oct 80° 56°
- Nov 69° 45°
- Dec 62° 40°
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 Columbia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 38°F. The most precipitation falls in January (6.52 in), the least in September (3.60 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F | 38°F | 48.8°F | 6.52 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 64°F | 42°F | 52.8°F | 5.21 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 48°F | 59.6°F | 5.72 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 55°F | 66.1°F | 5.22 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 85°F | 63°F | 73.9°F | 4.35 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 90°F | 70°F | 80.1°F | 5.77 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 92°F | 72°F | 82.0°F | 6.05 | 13 | 24 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 92°F | 72°F | 81.9°F | 6.04 | 11 | 24 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 88°F | 67°F | 77.7°F | 3.60 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 80°F | 56°F | 67.7°F | 3.75 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 69°F | 45°F | 56.9°F | 3.86 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 62°F | 40°F | 51.0°F | 5.79 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 56°F | 66.5°F | 61.88 | 115 | 90 | 37 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 166 mm |
| February | 18°C | 5°C | 11.6°C | 132 mm |
| March | 22°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 145 mm |
| April | 25°C | 13°C | 18.9°C | 133 mm |
| May | 29°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 110 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.7°C | 147 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.8°C | 154 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 153 mm |
| September | 31°C | 20°C | 25.4°C | 91 mm |
| October | 27°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 95 mm |
| November | 21°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 98 mm |
| December | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 147 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Tylertown (18 miles away), gets 0 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00221865; 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 Columbia?
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 (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 USC00221865.
When is the last frost in Columbia?
In Columbia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 5 in half of years and after March 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 19 in half of years and before November 3 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 51 year in 10 after March 24; 9 in 10 after February 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 191 year in 10 before November 3; 9 in 10 before December 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 262 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 292 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 19 in half of springs and before December 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbia in zone 8b in ZIP code 39429, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbia's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 21°F (17 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Mississippi · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00221865; 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 Columbia?
In a normal year in Columbia, 90 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 37 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 90a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 37a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 113°F, on June 7, 1915; the lowest is 4°F, on January 11, 1982.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1961, with 95.90 in; the snowiest season is 2017–18, with 5.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00221865; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00221865. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Columbia?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbia, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.8 |
| February | 69% | 3.4 |
| March | 73% | 4.5 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 80% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 5.9 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 81% | 4.2 |
| November | 79% | 3.3 |
| December | 70% | 2.5 |
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 Columbia need?
A normal year in Columbia brings 1,954 heating degree days, 64% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,535 cooling degree days, 2.8 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 6,453 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 510 | 7 |
| February | 355 | 13 |
| March | 212 | 45 |
| April | 77 | 109 |
| May | 8 | 284 |
| June | 0 | 453 |
| July | 0 | 527 |
| August | 0 | 524 |
| September | 2 | 381 |
| October | 69 | 152 |
| November | 270 | 27 |
| December | 449 | 14 |
| Year (annual) | 1,954 | 2,535 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00221865. 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 Columbia been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 71.2°F, 4.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 66.5°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67.9°F | +1.4°F | 85.31 |
| 2022 | 68.5°F | +2.0°F | 64.86 |
| 2023 | 71.2°F | +4.7°F | 49.87 |
Over 77 complete years from 1922 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00221865; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbia's climate compare?
Columbia is warmer than 71 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Mississippi, and wetter than 60. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 66.5°F is warmer than 91%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Columbia 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 Columbia share this climate record?
Foxworth 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.
- Foxworth, MS335 people · 3 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 Columbia's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbia?
January, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 38°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Columbia?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Columbia's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Tylertown (18 miles away), records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Columbia?
January, with 6.52 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.60 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbia in zone 8b in ZIP code 39429, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Columbia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 21°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Columbia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 5; in one year in ten it comes after March 24. Waiting until March 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Mississippi climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tylertown, MS18 miles from this station, 66.0°F a year
- Monticello, MS26 miles from this station, 67.2°F a year
- Collins, MS32 miles from this station, 66.0°F a year
- Bogalusa, LA32 miles from this station, 67.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made