Crab Orchard, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Crab Orchard's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 50.5 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.8°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,284 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCrab Orchard (6 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00151890
- Location37.49°N 84.44°W
- Elevation1,025 ft (312 m)
- Population757
On October 23, the normal high in Crab Orchard is 68°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Crab Orchard.
- Jan 45° 27°
- Feb 50° 30°
- Mar 59° 36°
- Apr 70° 45°
- May 77° 54°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 85° 63°
- Sep 80° 57°
- Oct 70° 46°
- Nov 58° 37°
- Dec 48° 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 Crab Orchard each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.19 in), the least in February (3.49 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F | 27°F | 35.7°F | 3.67 | 3.0 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 50°F | 30°F | 39.7°F | 3.49 | 1.8 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 59°F | 36°F | 47.5°F | 4.74 | 1.0 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 45°F | 57.5°F | 4.61 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 54°F | 65.3°F | 5.09 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 72.3°F | 5.12 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.3°F | 5.19 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 63°F | 74.3°F | 3.61 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 57°F | 68.7°F | 3.93 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 46°F | 58.3°F | 3.53 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 37°F | 47.5°F | 3.54 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 30°F | 39.3°F | 4.03 | 1.4 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 46°F | 56.8°F | 50.55 | 7.4 | 108 | 25 | 91 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −3°C | 2.1°C | 93 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 10°C | −1°C | 4.3°C | 89 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 120 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 18.5°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.5°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 8.6°C | 90 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 9°C | −1°C | 4.1°C | 102 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00151890; 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 Crab Orchard?
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 (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 USC00151890.
When is the last frost in Crab Orchard?
In Crab Orchard, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 18 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 9 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 181 year in 10 after May 9; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 188 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 210 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Crab Orchard in zone 7a in ZIP code 40419, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Crab Orchard's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00151890; 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 Crab Orchard?
In a normal year in Crab Orchard, 25 days a year reach 90°F, 91 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 108 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 91a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 108a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00151890.
How sunny is Crab Orchard?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Crab Orchard, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 2.0 |
| February | 61% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 61% | 1.8 |
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 Crab Orchard need?
A normal year in Crab Orchard brings 4,131 heating degree days, 23% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,161 cooling degree days, 28% 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 4,051 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 908 | 0 |
| February | 710 | 0 |
| March | 548 | 6 |
| April | 255 | 30 |
| May | 90 | 99 |
| June | 8 | 226 |
| July | 1 | 320 |
| August | 2 | 291 |
| September | 42 | 154 |
| October | 240 | 32 |
| November | 528 | 3 |
| December | 798 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,131 | 1,161 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00151890. 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 Crab Orchard been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 57.9°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 56.8°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57.3°F | +0.5°F | 54.93 | – |
| 2022 | 57.2°F | +0.4°F | 53.02 | 26.0 |
| 2023 | 59.0°F | +2.2°F | 39.97 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 59.3°F | +2.5°F | 51.47 | 7.0 |
| 2025 | 57.9°F | +1.1°F | 63.60 | 22.5 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00151890. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Crab Orchard's climate compare?
Crab Orchard is warmer than 43 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 27. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.8°F is warmer than 66%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Crab Orchard 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 Crab Orchard's climate
What is the coldest month in Crab Orchard?
January, with a normal high of 45°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Crab Orchard?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Crab Orchard?
July, with 5.19 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.49 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Crab Orchard in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Crab Orchard in zone 7a in ZIP code 40419, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Crab Orchard's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Crab Orchard?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 18; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Berea, KY10 miles from this station, 58.3°F a year
- Mount Vernon, KY11 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Richmond, KY19 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- Danville, KY21 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made