Columbia, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbia's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 56.8 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.9 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.4°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,442 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbia (3 mi WNW)
- Station IDUSC00401957
- Location35.64°N 87.09°W
- Elevation650 ft (198 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population48,812
On October 23, the normal high in Columbia is 69°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbia.
- Jan 48° 27°
- Feb 52° 29°
- Mar 62° 36°
- Apr 71° 44°
- May 79° 54°
- Jun 86° 62°
- Jul 89° 67°
- Aug 88° 65°
- Sep 83° 58°
- Oct 72° 45°
- Nov 60° 35°
- Dec 51° 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 Columbia 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 December (5.64 in), the least in October (3.78 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 | 48°F | 27°F | 37.4°F | 4.60 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 52°F | 29°F | 40.7°F | 5.11 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 36°F | 48.7°F | 5.43 | 13 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 44°F | 57.7°F | 5.10 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 54°F | 66.2°F | 5.17 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 62°F | 74.1°F | 4.98 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 67°F | 77.7°F | 4.75 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 65°F | 76.7°F | 4.09 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 58°F | 70.6°F | 4.25 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 45°F | 58.7°F | 3.78 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 35°F | 47.6°F | 3.87 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 30°F | 40.3°F | 5.64 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 46°F | 58.0°F | 56.77 | 126 | 41 | 93 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −3°C | 3.0°C | 117 mm |
| February | 11°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 130 mm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 138 mm |
| April | 22°C | 7°C | 14.3°C | 130 mm |
| May | 26°C | 12°C | 19.0°C | 131 mm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 126 mm |
| July | 32°C | 19°C | 25.4°C | 121 mm |
| August | 31°C | 18°C | 24.8°C | 104 mm |
| September | 29°C | 14°C | 21.4°C | 108 mm |
| October | 22°C | 7°C | 14.8°C | 96 mm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 98 mm |
| December | 11°C | −1°C | 4.6°C | 143 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00401957; 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 April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00401957.
When is the last frost in Columbia?
In Columbia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 10 in half of years and after April 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 27 in half of years and before October 16 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 26; 9 in 10 after March 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 271 year in 10 before October 16; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 199 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 221 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 29 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbia in zone 7b in ZIP code 38401. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbia's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (28 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 USC00401957; 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, 41 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 93 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 126 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 41a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 93a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 8high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 126a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 109°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −12°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1994, with 68.04 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 23.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00401957; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00401957. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Columbia?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbia, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 2.4 |
| February | 64% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.5 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.7 |
| November | 74% | 2.8 |
| December | 65% | 2.0 |
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 3,915 heating degree days, 27% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,408 cooling degree days, 55% 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 4,351 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 856 | 0 |
| February | 679 | 0 |
| March | 508 | 4 |
| April | 245 | 28 |
| May | 77 | 112 |
| June | 5 | 277 |
| July | 0 | 394 |
| August | 1 | 362 |
| September | 27 | 195 |
| October | 229 | 34 |
| November | 524 | 2 |
| December | 765 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,915 | 1,408 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00401957. 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?
2025 averaged 60.2°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.0°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.3°F | +0.3°F | 66.14 |
| 2024 | 61.2°F | +3.2°F | 53.42 |
| 2025 | 60.2°F | +2.2°F | 48.47 |
Over 54 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00401957; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbia's climate compare?
Columbia is warmer than 44 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 63. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.0°F is warmer than 69%.
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.
Questions about Columbia's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbia?
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 Columbia?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.9 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Columbia?
December, with 5.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.78 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbia in zone 7b in ZIP code 38401. By the same method at Columbia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Columbia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 10; in one year in ten it comes after April 26. Waiting until April 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Columbia in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Mount Pleasant, TN9 miles from this station, 59.4°F a year
- Neapolis Reservoir & Edu Station, TN9 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- Spring Hill, TN12 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Lewisburg, TN22 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made