Elizabethtown, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Elizabethtown's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 54.4 inches of precipitation and 5 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.1°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,381 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElizabethtown Wp Cs
- Station IDUSC00152512
- Location37.68°N 85.88°W
- Elevation690 ft (210 m)
- Population34,565
On October 14, the normal high in Elizabethtown is 70°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Elizabethtown.
- Jan 42° 24°
- Feb 47° 27°
- Mar 56° 35°
- Apr 67° 44°
- May 75° 54°
- Jun 83° 62°
- Jul 86° 66°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 80° 57°
- Oct 69° 45°
- Nov 56° 34°
- Dec 46° 28°
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 Elizabethtown each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.79 in), the least in September (3.47 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 24°F | 33.1°F | 3.99 | 2.0 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 27°F | 37.2°F | 3.93 | 1.6 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 56°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 5.14 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 44°F | 55.5°F | 5.08 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 54°F | 64.5°F | 5.79 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 62°F | 72.6°F | 4.72 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 86°F | 66°F | 75.8°F | 5.39 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.7°F | 4.09 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 57°F | 68.2°F | 3.47 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 45°F | 56.8°F | 4.10 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 34°F | 45.2°F | 3.74 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 28°F | 37.1°F | 4.94 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 45°F | 55.5°F | 54.38 | 4.5 | 122 | 21 | 98 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −4°C | 0.6°C | 101 mm | 5 cm |
| February | 8°C | −3°C | 2.9°C | 100 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 13°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 20°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 18.1°C | 147 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 8°C | −2°C | 2.8°C | 125 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00152512; 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 Elizabethtown?
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 USC00152512.
When is the last frost in Elizabethtown?
In Elizabethtown, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 13 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 161 year in 10 after May 4; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 191 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 214 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elizabethtown in zone 7a in ZIP code 42701. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Elizabethtown's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (17 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00152512; 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 Elizabethtown?
In a normal year in Elizabethtown, 21 days a year reach 90°F, 98 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 122 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 98a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 122a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00152512.
How sunny is Elizabethtown?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Elizabethtown, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 2.0 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 62% | 1.8 |
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 Elizabethtown need?
A normal year in Elizabethtown brings 4,565 heating degree days, 15% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,136 cooling degree days, 25% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,868 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 987 | 0 |
| February | 779 | 0 |
| March | 611 | 2 |
| April | 302 | 15 |
| May | 100 | 84 |
| June | 9 | 237 |
| July | 1 | 337 |
| August | 1 | 304 |
| September | 42 | 136 |
| October | 273 | 20 |
| November | 596 | 1 |
| December | 865 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,565 | 1,136 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00152512. 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.
How does Elizabethtown's climate compare?
Elizabethtown is warmer than 28 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 55. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.5°F is warmer than 62%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown share this climate record?
4 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.
- Radcliff, KY22,706 people · 10 mi N
- Vine Grove, KY6,933 people · 11 mi NW
- Rineyville, KY2,869 people · 7 mi NW
- Cecilia, KY499 people · 4 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 Elizabethtown's climate
What is the coldest month in Elizabethtown?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Elizabethtown?
Yes: 5 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Elizabethtown?
May, with 5.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.47 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Elizabethtown in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Elizabethtown in zone 7a in ZIP code 42701. By the same method at Elizabethtown's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Elizabethtown?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 4. Waiting until May 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Elizabethtown in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hodgenville, KY13 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Millerstown (4 mi E), KY19 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Bernheim Forest, KY21 miles from this station, 57.2°F a year
- Corners, KY21 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made