Dothan, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Dothan's normal year runs from 40°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 53.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 19.9°C, January lows of 4°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,368 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDothan Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00013839
- Location31.32°N 85.45°W
- Elevation370 ft (113 m)
- Population71,650
On October 14, the normal high in Dothan is 82°F and the normal low 58°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Dothan.
- Jan 62° 40°
- Feb 66° 43°
- Mar 73° 49°
- Apr 79° 55°
- May 87° 64°
- Jun 91° 71°
- Jul 93° 73°
- Aug 92° 72°
- Sep 88° 67°
- Oct 81° 57°
- Nov 71° 47°
- Dec 64° 42°
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 Dothan each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 40°F. The most precipitation falls in August (6.17 in), the least in October (2.70 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62°F | 40°F | 50.8°F | 4.76 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 66°F | 43°F | 54.6°F | 4.82 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 11 h |
| March | 73°F | 49°F | 60.8°F | 4.72 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 12 h |
| April | 79°F | 55°F | 67.2°F | 4.79 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 87°F | 64°F | 75.6°F | 2.92 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 91°F | 71°F | 81.1°F | 5.08 | 13 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 93°F | 73°F | 83.0°F | 5.95 | 14 | 24 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 92°F | 72°F | 82.0°F | 6.17 | 13 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 88°F | 67°F | 77.9°F | 3.27 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 2.70 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 71°F | 47°F | 58.9°F | 3.91 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 64°F | 42°F | 53.1°F | 4.76 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 57°F | 67.8°F | 53.85 | 119 | 89 | 21 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 4°C | 10.4°C | 121 mm |
| February | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 122 mm |
| March | 23°C | 9°C | 16.0°C | 120 mm |
| April | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 122 mm |
| May | 31°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 74 mm |
| June | 33°C | 22°C | 27.3°C | 129 mm |
| July | 34°C | 23°C | 28.3°C | 151 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.8°C | 157 mm |
| September | 31°C | 20°C | 25.5°C | 83 mm |
| October | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 69 mm |
| November | 22°C | 8°C | 14.9°C | 99 mm |
| December | 18°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 121 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Headland (7 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 USW00013839; 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 Dothan?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, 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 USW00013839.
When is the last frost in Dothan?
In Dothan, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 1 in half of years and after March 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 24 in half of years and before November 7 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 11 year in 10 after March 21; 9 in 10 after February 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 241 year in 10 before November 7; 9 in 10 before December 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 270 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 304 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 12 in half of springs and before December 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dothan in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 36303, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Dothan's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 21°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013839; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Dothan ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Dothan's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Dothan?
In a normal year in Dothan, 89 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 21 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 119 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 89a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 21a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 119a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1965) is 105°F, on June 23, 2009; the lowest is 4°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 74.06 in; the snowiest season is 2024–25, with 5.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013839; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00013839. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Dothan?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Dothan, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (83%) and February the cloudiest (71%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 176th (with 33 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 3.0 |
| February | 71% | 3.6 |
| March | 76% | 4.8 |
| April | 80% | 5.9 |
| May | 83% | 6.5 |
| June | 79% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.1 |
| October | 81% | 4.3 |
| November | 81% | 3.4 |
| December | 72% | 2.6 |
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 Dothan need?
A normal year in Dothan brings 1,633 heating degree days, 70% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,686 cooling degree days, 3.0 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,792 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 451 | 9 |
| February | 307 | 14 |
| March | 174 | 45 |
| April | 50 | 118 |
| May | 4 | 332 |
| June | 0 | 482 |
| July | 0 | 558 |
| August | 0 | 527 |
| September | 1 | 387 |
| October | 46 | 165 |
| November | 217 | 34 |
| December | 384 | 15 |
| Year (annual) | 1,633 | 2,686 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013839. 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 Dothan been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 69.3°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 67.8°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67.8°F | at normal | 60.98 |
| 2022 | 68.1°F | +0.3°F | 46.79 |
| 2023 | 69.2°F | +1.4°F | 46.83 |
| 2024 | 69.3°F | +1.5°F | 50.83 |
Over 50 complete years from 1970 to 2025, 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 USW00013839; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Dothan's climate compare?
Dothan is warmer than 77 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 6. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 67.8°F is warmer than 93%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Dothan 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 Dothan share this climate record?
7 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.
- Ozark, AL14,368 people · 15 mi NW
- Taylor, AL2,337 people · 11 mi S
- Midland City, AL2,305 people · 3 mi W
- Newton, AL1,652 people · 8 mi W
- Pinckard, AL594 people · 5 mi W
- Grimes, AL587 people · 1 mi S
- Napier Field, AL415 people · 1 mi SW
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 Dothan's climate
What is the coldest month in Dothan?
January, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 40°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Dothan?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Dothan's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Headland (7 miles away), records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Dothan?
August, with 6.17 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.70 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Dothan in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Dothan in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 36303, the largest). By the same method at Dothan's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 21°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Dothan?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 1; in one year in ten it comes after March 21. Waiting until March 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Dothan in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Headland, AL7 miles from this station, 66.8°F a year
- Enterprise, AL27 miles from this station, 66.5°F a year
- Fort Gaines, GA31 miles from this station, 65.7°F a year
- Geneva, AL32 miles from this station, 65.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made