Elkins, WV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Elkins's primary NOAA station, ELKINS 21 ENE.
The climate verdict for Elkins
Water is the standout signal in Elkins, West Virginia: 56.7 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 47°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 47°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 56.7"
- precipitation, annual total
- 153 days
- frost-free growing season
Elkins: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00003733 · Elkins, WV 47°F mean · 56.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,715
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Gerber Dam
- PRCP-WET 56.7"
- SWING-MID 39°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,852 HDD
- STN-1 USW00003733
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Gerber Dam, OR (+ 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 WV station list.
- Elkins (this station) 47°F
- Hot Grand Canyon Na…, AZ 47°F
- Near Gerber Dam, OR 47°F
- Near Snowden, WA 47°F
- Cold Tenants Harbor, ME 46°F
Climate Living Index · Elkins
Elkins: 32/100 · grade F
Elkins publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Elkins, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 149 calendar days | 47/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 153 days/year | 28/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.6°F · 20.9° from 67.5°F | 25/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 56.7 in · 21.7 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
Elkins · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Elkins is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 25.8°F and warmest-month mean 65.2°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 65.2°F
- Coldest month
- 25.8°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 · heating-led station
Where Elkins sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Elkins's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 75%
- Among 6,861 stations, Elkins sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 9% wettest
- Elkins's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 33rd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Elkins compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Elkins's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 4.8" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 4.4" | 23.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 44°F (7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 5.3" | 21.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 5.1" | 11.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 64°F (18°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 5.8" | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 71°F (21°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 5.3" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| July | 74°F (23°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 5.7" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 73°F (23°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 68°F (20°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.0" | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| October | 59°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.7" | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 47°F (8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 3.8" | 18.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 4.8" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 74°F around July 13, short of 90°F on every date, while 149 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 17°F near January 25.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 5, then returns to freezing around November 9, covering 149 dates in all.
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 January 20, when 69% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 16 at 35%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 194 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Elkins.
Where Elkins Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 57 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Elkins earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
21.5 days with precipitation
17.8 days with precipitation
18.1 days with precipitation
15.8 days with precipitation
17.6 days with precipitation
16.6 days with precipitation
16.4 days with precipitation
13.8 days with precipitation
10.6 days with precipitation
13.5 days with precipitation
13.7 days with precipitation
18.7 days with precipitation
Elkins spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 27% of the annual total and December through February 25%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Elkins has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 39.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 5.8" and October 3.7". The three wettest months together take 30% 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.
How Elkins's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 194 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 56.7" between them, or roughly 0.29 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 7
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 7
50% probability date
Growing Season
153 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,852
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
154
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WV closest to Elkins 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 (47°F here).
- Addison, NY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Baraboo, WI 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Boyne Falls, MI 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Coalville, UT 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (56.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cherokee, NC 56.7" · 0.0" off
- Lambert, MS 56.7" · 0.0" off
- Ashland, LA 56.7" · 0.0" off
- Headland, AL 56.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Elkins's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
Elkins's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,852 annual heating degree days against 154 for cooling. Its 39.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Elkins's frost-free season lasts about 153 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Elkins's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 39.4°F. The annual average is 47°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, Elkins carries 56.7 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Elkins's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Elkins, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Elkins's climate
How much rain does Elkins get? ▼
How cold does Elkins get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Elkins? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Elkins's primary station: ELKINS 21 ENE (USW00003733). 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 5424580). Match rule for Elkins: 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 Elkins 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.