Dickson, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Dickson's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 54.1 inches of precipitation and 3 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.5°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,373 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDickson
- Station IDUSC00402489
- Location36.08°N 87.40°W
- Elevation780 ft (238 m)
- Population16,878
On October 22, the normal high in Dickson is 69°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Dickson.
- Jan 48° 28°
- Feb 52° 30°
- Mar 61° 38°
- Apr 71° 46°
- May 77° 55°
- Jun 84° 63°
- Jul 87° 67°
- Aug 87° 65°
- Sep 81° 59°
- Oct 71° 47°
- Nov 60° 37°
- Dec 50° 31°
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 Dickson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.79 in), the least in August (3.45 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 28°F | 37.5°F | 4.33 | 0.8 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| February | 52°F | 30°F | 41.4°F | 4.90 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 38°F | 49.4°F | 5.44 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 46°F | 58.6°F | 4.93 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 55°F | 66.1°F | 5.79 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 63°F | 73.5°F | 4.02 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 87°F | 67°F | 76.9°F | 4.62 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 65°F | 76.1°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 81°F | 59°F | 69.9°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 47°F | 59.0°F | 4.04 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 37°F | 48.0°F | 3.97 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 31°F | 40.5°F | 5.13 | 0.6 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 54.07 | 2.5 | 112 | 26 | 84 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.1°C | 110 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.2°C | 124 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 16°C | 3°C | 9.7°C | 138 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 18.9°C | 147 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 24.5°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 130 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00402489; 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 Dickson?
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 (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 USC00402489.
When is the last frost in Dickson?
In Dickson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 13 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 131 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after March 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 12; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 195 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 217 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 31 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dickson in zone 7b in ZIP code 37055, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Dickson's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (23 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 USC00402489; 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 Dickson?
In a normal year in Dickson, 26 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 84 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 84a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1900) is 110°F, on July 28, 1930; the lowest is −23°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2021, with 77.76 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 21.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00402489; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00402489. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Dickson?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Dickson, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 2.2 |
| February | 63% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 64% | 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 Dickson need?
A normal year in Dickson brings 3,826 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,327 cooling degree days, 46% 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 4,316 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 853 | 0 |
| February | 663 | 1 |
| March | 489 | 6 |
| April | 223 | 29 |
| May | 70 | 106 |
| June | 4 | 259 |
| July | 0 | 368 |
| August | 1 | 346 |
| September | 31 | 178 |
| October | 221 | 33 |
| November | 512 | 2 |
| December | 760 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,826 | 1,327 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00402489. 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 Dickson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.6°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.1°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.0°F | +0.9°F | 77.76 | – |
| 2024 | 60.6°F | +2.5°F | 52.82 | – |
| 2025 | 59.6°F | +1.5°F | 53.12 | 2.8 |
Over 86 complete years from 1905 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00402489; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Dickson's climate compare?
Dickson is warmer than 49 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 29. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.1°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Dickson 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 Dickson share this climate record?
Vanleer has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Vanleer, TN597 people · 12 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 Dickson's climate
What is the coldest month in Dickson?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Dickson?
Yes: 3 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Dickson?
May, with 5.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.45 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Dickson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Dickson in zone 7b in ZIP code 37055, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Dickson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Dickson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 13; 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
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Montgomery Bell State Park, TN6 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Charlotte, TN14 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Kingston Springs, TN16 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Fairview, TN16 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made