Cookeville, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cookeville's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 60.0 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.1°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,525 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCookeville
- Station IDUSC00402009
- Location36.11°N 85.50°W
- Elevation1,090 ft (332 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population37,102
On October 23, the normal high in Cookeville is 69°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cookeville.
- Jan 47° 27°
- Feb 51° 29°
- Mar 60° 35°
- Apr 70° 43°
- May 78° 53°
- Jun 84° 62°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 87° 64°
- Sep 82° 57°
- 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 Cookeville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.10 in), the least in October (3.35 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 27°F | 37.0°F | 5.29 | 2.3 | 13 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 51°F | 29°F | 40.2°F | 5.48 | 1.8 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 35°F | 47.7°F | 5.46 | 0.9 | 13 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 43°F | 56.5°F | 5.35 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h |
| May | 78°F | 53°F | 65.4°F | 5.15 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 62°F | 73.1°F | 5.45 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.7°F | 5.69 | 0.0 | 12 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 64°F | 75.5°F | 3.93 | 0.0 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 57°F | 69.7°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 45°F | 58.4°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 35°F | 47.7°F | 4.30 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 30°F | 40.6°F | 6.10 | 1.0 | 13 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 46°F | 57.4°F | 60.02 | 6.1 | 137 | 29 | 97 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 134 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 11°C | −2°C | 4.6°C | 139 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 139 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 21°C | 6°C | 13.6°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.8°C | 145 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 14°C | 20.9°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 7°C | 14.7°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 155 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00402009; 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 Cookeville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00402009.
When is the last frost in Cookeville?
In Cookeville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 14 in half of years and after April 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 12 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 141 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after March 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 12; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 195 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 218 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cookeville in zone 7a in ZIP code 38501. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cookeville's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (28 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 Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00402009; 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 Cookeville?
In a normal year in Cookeville, 29 days a year reach 90°F, 97 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 137 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 97a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 137a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 105°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −15°F, on January 24, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 82.55 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 27.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00402009; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00402009. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cookeville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cookeville, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 63% | 1.9 |
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 Cookeville need?
A normal year in Cookeville brings 4,014 heating degree days, 25% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,269 cooling degree days, 40% 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 4,159 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 867 | 0 |
| February | 695 | 0 |
| March | 539 | 3 |
| April | 273 | 18 |
| May | 88 | 100 |
| June | 7 | 250 |
| July | 0 | 363 |
| August | 1 | 328 |
| September | 33 | 172 |
| October | 236 | 33 |
| November | 520 | 3 |
| December | 757 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,014 | 1,269 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00402009. 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 Cookeville been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 59.3°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.4°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.3°F | +0.9°F | 61.05 | – |
| 2022 | 57.7°F | +0.3°F | 59.42 | – |
| 2023 | 59.3°F | +1.9°F | 46.14 | 1.0 |
Over 61 complete years from 1956 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 USC00402009; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cookeville's climate compare?
Cookeville is warmer than 31 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 95. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.4°F is warmer than 68%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cookeville 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 Cookeville share this climate record?
2 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.
- Algood, TN4,104 people · 7 mi NE
- Baxter, TN2,051 people · 8 mi NW
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 Cookeville's climate
What is the coldest month in Cookeville?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Cookeville?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Cookeville?
December, with 6.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.35 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cookeville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cookeville in zone 7a in ZIP code 38501. By the same method at Cookeville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Cookeville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 14; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Cookeville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Monterey, TN14 miles from this station, 56.4°F a year
- Sparta, TN14 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Lancaster Edgar Evins Marina, TN18 miles from this station, 59.4°F a year
- Smithville, TN20 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made