Columbus, Mississippi climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbus's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 56.6 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.4 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.6°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,439 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbus
- Station IDUSC00221880
- Location33.47°N 88.38°W
- Elevation145 ft (44 m)
- Population22,820
On October 23, the normal high in Columbus is 76°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbus.
- Jan 56° 36°
- Feb 61° 39°
- Mar 70° 46°
- Apr 78° 53°
- May 85° 62°
- Jun 91° 69°
- Jul 94° 73°
- Aug 93° 72°
- Sep 88° 66°
- Oct 78° 54°
- Nov 67° 43°
- Dec 58° 38°
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 Columbus each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in April (5.81 in), the least in September (3.20 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 | 56°F | 36°F | 45.8°F | 5.45 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 61°F | 39°F | 50.2°F | 5.69 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| March | 70°F | 46°F | 58.0°F | 5.32 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 53°F | 65.5°F | 5.81 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 85°F | 62°F | 73.2°F | 4.02 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 91°F | 69°F | 80.2°F | 4.40 | 9 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 94°F | 73°F | 83.2°F | 4.68 | 10 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 93°F | 72°F | 82.6°F | 4.50 | 8 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 88°F | 66°F | 77.0°F | 3.20 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 78°F | 54°F | 66.2°F | 3.63 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 43°F | 54.6°F | 4.35 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 38°F | 48.1°F | 5.59 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 54°F | 65.4°F | 56.64 | 100 | 83 | 50 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 138 mm |
| February | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 145 mm |
| March | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 135 mm |
| April | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 148 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.9°C | 102 mm |
| June | 33°C | 21°C | 26.8°C | 112 mm |
| July | 34°C | 23°C | 28.4°C | 119 mm |
| August | 34°C | 22°C | 28.1°C | 114 mm |
| September | 31°C | 19°C | 25.0°C | 81 mm |
| October | 26°C | 12°C | 19.0°C | 92 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 110 mm |
| December | 15°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 142 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00221880; 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 Columbus?
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 (6).
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 USC00221880.
When is the last frost in Columbus?
In Columbus, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 13 in half of years and after April 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 12 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 131 year in 10 after April 2; 9 in 10 after February 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 121 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 244 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 273 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 26 in half of springs and before November 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbus in zone 8b in ZIP code 39705. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbus's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (25 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Mississippi · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00221880; 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 Columbus?
In a normal year in Columbus, 83 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 50 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 100 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 83a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 50a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 100a normal year
The highest temperature in Columbus's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1903) is 110°F, on September 7, 1925; the lowest is −7°F, on January 27, 1940.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1979, with 93.34 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 14.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00221880; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record CUSM6thr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Columbus?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbus, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.6 |
| February | 67% | 3.2 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 82% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 68% | 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 Columbus need?
A normal year in Columbus brings 2,326 heating degree days, 57% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,494 cooling degree days, 2.7 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,198 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 598 | 3 |
| February | 423 | 8 |
| March | 254 | 37 |
| April | 89 | 102 |
| May | 12 | 266 |
| June | 0 | 454 |
| July | 0 | 566 |
| August | 0 | 547 |
| September | 3 | 363 |
| October | 90 | 126 |
| November | 329 | 17 |
| December | 529 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,326 | 2,494 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00221880. 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 Columbus been warmer than normal lately?
Over 119 complete years from 1855 to 2017, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.1°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbus's climate compare?
Columbus is warmer than 52 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Mississippi, and wetter than 13. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 65.4°F is warmer than 89%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Columbus 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 Columbus share this climate record?
5 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- New Hope, MS3,587 people · 2 mi E
- Reform, AL1,437 people · 22 mi E
- Millport, AL968 people · 18 mi E
- Macedonia, AL342 people · 10 mi SE
- Ethelsville, AL48 people · 10 mi E
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 Columbus's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbus?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Columbus?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.4 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Columbus?
April, with 5.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.20 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbus in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbus in zone 8b in ZIP code 39705. By the same method at Columbus's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Columbus?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 13; in one year in ten it comes after April 2. Waiting until April 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Columbus in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Mississippi climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Starkville, MS23 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Macon, MS24 miles from this station, 62.7°F a year
- Vernon, AL24 miles from this station, 63.5°F a year
- Aberdeen, MS26 miles from this station, 61.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made