Darlington, SC Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Darlington's primary NOAA station, DARLINGTON.
The climate verdict for Darlington
Water is the standout signal in Darlington, South Carolina: 47.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 63°F. It scores 92/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 92% of them.
- 63°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 92/100
- comfort score, above 92% of station-mapped location scores
- 47.9"
- annual precipitation
- 221 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Darlington: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00382260 · Darlington, SC 63°F mean · 47.9" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 63°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,626
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Alexander City
- PRCP-MID 47.9"
- SWING-MID 37°F
- COMF-TOP 92/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00382260
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Alexander City, AL (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every SC station list.
- Darlington (this station) 63°F
- Hot Calhoun City, MS 63°F
- Near Alexander City, AL 63°F
- Near Alpine, TX 63°F
- Near Bowie, TX 63°F
Climate Living Index · Darlington
Darlington: 78/100 · grade B
Darlington publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Darlington, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 92/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 62.8°F · 4.7° from 67.5°F | 86/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 77 calendar days | 83/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 221 days/year | 77/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 47.9 in · 12.9 from 35 in | 55/100 · C |
Darlington · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Darlington is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 44.3°F and warmest-month mean 81.2°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 81.2°F
- Coldest month
- 44.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Darlington sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Darlington's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 18% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Darlington sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 24% wettest
- Darlington's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 77%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Darlington is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Darlington compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Darlington's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
92 Top 8% score exceeds 92% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Darlington's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 60 complete annual observations from 1902 to 2020, DARLINGTON warmed at a fitted rate of 0.12°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Darlington primary station fitted change +0.12 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 3.6" | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.5" | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 3.6" | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 76°F (25°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.1" | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| May | 83°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.0" | 0.0 | 5.9 |
| June | 89°F (32°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.7" | 0.0 | 15.8 |
| July | 92°F (33°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 5.0" | 0.0 | 23.6 |
| August | 90°F (32°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 5.6" | 0.0 | 17.9 |
| September | 85°F (29°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 7.4 |
| October | 76°F (24°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.4" | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 3.1" | 6.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 59°F (15°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.7" | 12.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Darlington works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 92°F by July 12 and hold at or above 90°F on 56 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 21 dates, bottoming at 32°F around January 17.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 21 through August 15, covering 56 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 25 to November 3.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
Freezing normal lows persist into January 30, covering 21 dates.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 31, when 35% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 24 at 23%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 104 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 6 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Darlington.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
9.2 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
Darlington spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 32% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Darlington has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 36.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 5.6" and April 3.1". The three wettest months together take 32% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Darlington, it arrives in quantity
47.9" of precipitation falls across only about 103 wet days here, averaging 0.46 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 103 a year, 28% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.46 inches
- Most wet days
- August, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- October, about 7
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 6
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
221 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,745
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,973
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SC closest to Darlington on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (63°F here).
- Alexander City, AL 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Alpine, TX 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Bowie, TX 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Calhoun City, MS 63°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (47.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Damascus, MD 47.9" · 0.0" off
- Pittsburg, KS 47.9" · 0.0" off
- Concord, NC 47.9" · 0.0" off
- Indiana, PA 47.9" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Darlington's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Darlington averages 47.9 inches of precipitation a year. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Darlington's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 36.9°F. The annual average is 63°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Darlington's normal, at 2,745 and 1,973 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 221-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Darlington's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Darlington, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Darlington's climate
How much rain does Darlington get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Darlington get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Darlington? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Darlington's primary station: DARLINGTON (USC00382260). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 4518565). Match rule for Darlington: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Darlington comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.