Donegal, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Donegal's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 50.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.8°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,273 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDonegal (2 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00362183
- Location40.13°N 79.41°W
- Elevation1,800 ft (549 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population101
On October 23, the normal high in Donegal is 60°F and the normal low 38°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Donegal.
- Jan 35° 19°
- Feb 39° 20°
- Mar 47° 26°
- Apr 60° 37°
- May 70° 47°
- Jun 77° 56°
- Jul 81° 60°
- Aug 79° 59°
- Sep 74° 52°
- Oct 63° 41°
- Nov 51° 32°
- Dec 41° 25°
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 Donegal each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in January (4.95 in), the least in October (3.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 19°F | 27.2°F | 4.95 | – | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 39°F | 20°F | 29.8°F | 3.50 | – | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 47°F | 26°F | 36.8°F | 3.66 | – | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 37°F | 48.7°F | 4.08 | – | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 70°F | 47°F | 58.5°F | 4.71 | – | <1 | 3 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 77°F | 56°F | 66.6°F | 4.91 | – | <1 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 81°F | 60°F | 70.1°F | 4.63 | – | 1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 79°F | 59°F | 69.1°F | 4.16 | – | 1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 74°F | 52°F | 62.7°F | 3.87 | – | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 41°F | 51.8°F | 3.31 | – | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 32°F | 41.3°F | 3.67 | – | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 25°F | 32.7°F | 4.65 | – | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 39°F | 49.6°F | 50.10 | – | 3 | 143 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −7°C | −2.7°C | 126 mm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.2°C | 89 mm |
| March | 8°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 93 mm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 104 mm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.7°C | 120 mm |
| June | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 125 mm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 118 mm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 106 mm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 98 mm |
| October | 17°C | 5°C | 11.0°C | 84 mm |
| November | 10°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 93 mm |
| December | 5°C | −4°C | 0.4°C | 118 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Mount Pleasant (8 miles away), gets 30 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00362183; 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 Donegal?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September.
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 USC00362183.
When is the last frost in Donegal?
In Donegal, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 3 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 301 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 170 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Donegal in zone 6a in ZIP code 15628.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00362183; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Donegal?
In a normal year in Donegal, 3 days a year reach 90°F and 143 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 143a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1943) is 98°F, on July 20, 1977; the lowest is −20°F, on February 27, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1956, with 57.68 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 123.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00362183; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00362183. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Donegal?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Donegal, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and December the cloudiest (51%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 53% | 1.6 |
| February | 58% | 2.4 |
| March | 61% | 3.4 |
| April | 66% | 4.6 |
| May | 69% | 5.3 |
| June | 73% | 5.9 |
| July | 76% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.3 |
| October | 66% | 2.9 |
| November | 65% | 2.0 |
| December | 51% | 1.3 |
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 Donegal need?
A normal year in Donegal brings 6,105 heating degree days, 14% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 526 cooling degree days, 42% 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 2,688 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,172 | 0 |
| February | 987 | 0 |
| March | 874 | 0 |
| April | 495 | 6 |
| May | 233 | 33 |
| June | 53 | 103 |
| July | 16 | 175 |
| August | 22 | 149 |
| September | 122 | 53 |
| October | 417 | 7 |
| November | 713 | 0 |
| December | 1,003 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,105 | 526 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00362183. 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 Donegal been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 52.0°F, 2.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.6°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.8°F | +1.2°F | 50.04 |
| 2023 | 51.4°F | +1.8°F | 49.75 |
| 2024 | 52.0°F | +2.4°F | 50.57 |
Over 35 complete years from 1946 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.0°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00362183; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Donegal's climate compare?
Donegal is warmer than 40 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 94. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.6°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Donegal is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Donegal share this climate record?
Bear Rocks 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.
- Bear Rocks, PA1,239 people · 3 mi W
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 Donegal's climate
What is the coldest month in Donegal?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Donegal?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Donegal's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Mount Pleasant (8 miles away), records 30 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Donegal?
January, with 4.95 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Donegal in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Donegal in zone 6a in ZIP code 15628.
How late can frost come in Donegal?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rector (3 mi SSW), PA8 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Mount Pleasant, PA8 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Hidden Valley, PA10 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Laurel Mountain, PA12 miles from this station, 49.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made