Emporia, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Emporia's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 46.2 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,173 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEmporia (1 mi WNW)
- Station IDUSC00442790
- Location36.70°N 77.56°W
- Elevation100 ft (31 m)
- Population5,402
On October 23, the normal high in Emporia is 71°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Emporia.
- Jan 51° 29°
- Feb 54° 31°
- Mar 62° 37°
- Apr 72° 46°
- May 79° 56°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 88° 68°
- Sep 83° 62°
- Oct 73° 49°
- Nov 63° 38°
- Dec 54° 32°
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 Emporia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in August (5.07 in), the least in February (2.59 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 29°F | 39.8°F | 3.40 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 54°F | 31°F | 42.4°F | 2.59 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 37°F | 49.0°F | 4.05 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 46°F | 58.7°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 56°F | 67.2°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.4°F | 3.97 | 0.0 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.6°F | 4.86 | 0.0 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 88°F | 68°F | 78.1°F | 5.07 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 62°F | 72.2°F | 4.92 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 49°F | 60.9°F | 3.47 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 38°F | 50.4°F | 3.16 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 54°F | 32°F | 43.1°F | 3.56 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 48°F | 59.7°F | 46.19 | 1.4 | 112 | 42 | 83 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 86 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 12°C | −1°C | 5.8°C | 66 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.4°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 22.3°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 3°C | 10.2°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 12°C | 0°C | 6.2°C | 90 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00442790; 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 Emporia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. 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 USC00442790.
When is the last frost in Emporia?
In Emporia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 6 in half of years and before October 26 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 311 year in 10 after April 14; 9 in 10 after March 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 61 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 221 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 247 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 20 in half of springs and before November 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Emporia in zone 7b in ZIP code 23847, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Emporia's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (24 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 Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00442790; 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 Emporia?
In a normal year in Emporia, 42 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 83 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 42a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 83a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high 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 1893) is 109°F, on July 30, 1893; the lowest is −3°F, on January 8, 2018.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 59.52 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 29.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00442790; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00442790. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Emporia?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Emporia, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and March the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.5 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 72% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.8 |
| December | 73% | 2.2 |
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 Emporia need?
A normal year in Emporia brings 3,517 heating degree days, 35% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,632 cooling degree days, 80% 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 4,675 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 781 | 0 |
| February | 635 | 1 |
| March | 499 | 5 |
| April | 225 | 37 |
| May | 65 | 134 |
| June | 5 | 317 |
| July | 0 | 451 |
| August | 0 | 405 |
| September | 15 | 229 |
| October | 174 | 48 |
| November | 441 | 4 |
| December | 678 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,517 | 1,632 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00442790. 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 Emporia been warmer than normal lately?
Over 32 complete years from 1983 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.7°F per century (+0.32°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Emporia's climate compare?
Emporia is warmer than 74 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 40. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.7°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Emporia 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 Emporia share this climate record?
3 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.
- Garysburg, NC867 people · 17 mi S
- Jarratt, VA641 people · 10 mi NE
- Seaboard, NC507 people · 16 mi SE
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 Emporia's climate
What is the coldest month in Emporia?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Emporia?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Emporia?
August, with 5.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.59 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Emporia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Emporia in zone 7b in ZIP code 23847, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Emporia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Emporia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 14. Waiting until April 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lawrenceville, VA14 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Roanoke Rapids, NC20 miles from this station, 60.6°F a year
- Stony Creek, VA21 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Jackson, NC22 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made