Darlington, South Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Darlington's normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 47.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.1°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,216 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDarlington
- Station IDUSC00382260
- Location34.30°N 79.88°W
- Elevation150 ft (46 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population6,045
On October 23, the normal high in Darlington is 74°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Darlington.
- Jan 57° 32°
- Feb 60° 34°
- Mar 68° 40°
- Apr 76° 49°
- May 83° 59°
- Jun 89° 67°
- Jul 92° 70°
- Aug 90° 69°
- Sep 85° 63°
- Oct 76° 51°
- Nov 66° 40°
- Dec 59° 35°
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 Darlington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in August (5.61 in), the least in April (3.12 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 32°F | 44.3°F | 3.62 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 34°F | 47.0°F | 3.45 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 40°F | 53.8°F | 3.60 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 76°F | 49°F | 62.4°F | 3.12 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 59°F | 70.8°F | 4.00 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 67°F | 77.9°F | 4.69 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 92°F | 70°F | 81.2°F | 4.97 | 10 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 69°F | 79.3°F | 5.61 | 11 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 63°F | 73.9°F | 4.54 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 51°F | 63.5°F | 3.40 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 40°F | 53.0°F | 3.14 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 59°F | 35°F | 46.6°F | 3.74 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 51°F | 62.8°F | 47.88 | 103 | 72 | 53 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 92 mm |
| February | 16°C | 1°C | 8.3°C | 88 mm |
| March | 20°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 91 mm |
| April | 25°C | 9°C | 16.9°C | 79 mm |
| May | 28°C | 15°C | 21.6°C | 102 mm |
| June | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 119 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 27.3°C | 126 mm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 26.3°C | 142 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 115 mm |
| October | 24°C | 11°C | 17.5°C | 86 mm |
| November | 19°C | 4°C | 11.7°C | 80 mm |
| December | 15°C | 1°C | 8.1°C | 95 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Florence (8 mi NE) (8 miles away), gets 0 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00382260; 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 Darlington?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00382260.
When is the last frost in Darlington?
In Darlington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 30 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 6 in half of years and before October 26 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 301 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 61 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 221 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 245 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 18 in half of springs and before November 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Darlington in zone 8b in ZIP code 29532, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Darlington's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00382260; 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 Darlington?
In a normal year in Darlington, 72 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 53 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 103 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 72a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 53a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 103a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 109°F, on September 4, 1925; the lowest is −4°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1994, with 62.09 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 22.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00382260; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00382260. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Darlington?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Darlington, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.8 |
| February | 73% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.9 |
| November | 79% | 3.0 |
| December | 74% | 2.4 |
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 Darlington need?
A normal year in Darlington brings 2,745 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,973 cooling degree days, 2.2 times 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 5,418 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 644 | 1 |
| February | 506 | 2 |
| March | 360 | 13 |
| April | 138 | 60 |
| May | 25 | 206 |
| June | 1 | 388 |
| July | 0 | 501 |
| August | 0 | 443 |
| September | 8 | 273 |
| October | 120 | 74 |
| November | 368 | 10 |
| December | 574 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,745 | 1,973 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00382260. 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 Darlington been warmer than normal lately?
Over 60 complete years from 1902 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°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 Darlington's climate compare?
Darlington is warmer than 35 of the other 72 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 25. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.8°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Darlington 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 Darlington 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.
- Timmonsville, SC2,117 people · 12 mi S
- Dovesville, SC1,014 people · 7 mi N
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 Darlington's climate
What is the coldest month in Darlington?
January, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Darlington?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Darlington's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Florence (8 mi NE) (8 miles away), records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Darlington?
August, with 5.61 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.12 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Darlington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Darlington in zone 8b in ZIP code 29532, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Darlington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Darlington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 30; in one year in ten it comes after April 13. Waiting until April 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hartsville, SC12 miles from this station, 62.4°F a year
- Florence, SC12 miles from this station, 64.7°F a year
- Elliott, SC21 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Bishopville, SC21 miles from this station, 62.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made