Covington, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Covington's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 39.5 inches of precipitation and 10 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.5°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,003 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCovington Filter Plant
- Station IDUSC00442044
- Location37.81°N 79.99°W
- Elevation1,244 ft (379 m)
- Population5,663
On October 14, the normal high in Covington is 68°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Covington.
- Jan 42° 23°
- Feb 46° 24°
- Mar 54° 30°
- Apr 66° 39°
- May 74° 48°
- Jun 81° 57°
- Jul 84° 61°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 77° 53°
- Oct 67° 42°
- Nov 55° 31°
- Dec 45° 26°
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 Covington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.30 in), the least in February (2.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 23°F | 32.0°F | 2.60 | 2.5 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 46°F | 24°F | 34.8°F | 2.43 | 3.3 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 30°F | 42.1°F | 3.36 | 1.6 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 39°F | 52.3°F | 3.63 | 0.2 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 48°F | 61.0°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 81°F | 57°F | 68.6°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 12 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 84°F | 61°F | 72.5°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 12 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 3.24 | 0.0 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 77°F | 53°F | 65.0°F | 3.49 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 42°F | 54.4°F | 2.51 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 31°F | 43.1°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 26°F | 35.7°F | 2.94 | 2.5 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 41°F | 52.7°F | 39.47 | 10.1 | 125 | 30 | 119 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −5°C | 0.0°C | 66 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 1.6°C | 62 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 12°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 85 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 19°C | 4°C | 11.3°C | 92 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 16°C | 22.5°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 6.2°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 7°C | −3°C | 2.1°C | 75 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00442044; 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 Covington?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, 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 USC00442044.
When is the last frost in Covington?
In Covington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 4 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 271 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Covington in zone 7a in ZIP code 24426, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Covington's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (26 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00442044; 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 Covington?
In a normal year in Covington, 30 days a year reach 90°F, 119 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 125 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 30a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 119a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 8high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 125a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 102°F, on July 17, 1988; the lowest is −19°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 54.74 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 40.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00442044; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00442044. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Covington?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Covington, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (78%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.3 |
| February | 70% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 78% | 6.2 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 77% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.4 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 76% | 2.7 |
| December | 70% | 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 Covington need?
A normal year in Covington brings 5,144 heating degree days, 4% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 704 cooling degree days, 22% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,124 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,023 | 0 |
| February | 846 | 0 |
| March | 708 | 0 |
| April | 384 | 5 |
| May | 163 | 41 |
| June | 29 | 137 |
| July | 3 | 234 |
| August | 7 | 201 |
| September | 76 | 77 |
| October | 339 | 9 |
| November | 659 | 0 |
| December | 907 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,144 | 704 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00442044. 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 Covington been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 54.4°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.7°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.1°F | +1.4°F | 39.10 | 6.4 |
| 2022 | 52.7°F | at normal | 42.99 | 11.6 |
| 2023 | 54.4°F | +1.7°F | 30.09 | 0.3 |
Over 47 complete years from 1961 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.8°F per century (+0.32°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00442044; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Covington's climate compare?
Covington is warmer than 9 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 1. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.7°F is warmer than 52%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Covington 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 Covington share this climate record?
7 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.
- Clifton Forge, VA3,385 people · 9 mi E
- Mallow, VA511 people · 3 mi S
- Low Moor, VA396 people · 7 mi E
- Selma, VA333 people · 8 mi E
- Iron Gate, VA310 people · 11 mi E
- Cliftondale Park, VA81 people · 10 mi E
- Glen Wilton, VA74 people · 10 mi SE
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 Covington's climate
What is the coldest month in Covington?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Covington?
Yes: 10 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (3.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Covington?
May, with 4.30 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Covington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Covington in zone 7a in ZIP code 24426, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Covington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Covington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Gathright Dam, VA9 miles from this station, 52.4°F a year
- Hot Springs, VA16 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- White Sulphur Springs, WV17 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Lewisburg, WV23 miles from this station, 50.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made