Fairmont, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fairmont's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 47.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.0°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,213 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFairmont
- Station IDUSC00462920
- Location39.46°N 80.14°W
- Elevation1,300 ft (396 m)
- Population18,063
On October 23, the normal high in Fairmont is 63°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fairmont.
- Jan 40° 24°
- Feb 43° 26°
- Mar 52° 33°
- Apr 65° 42°
- May 73° 52°
- Jun 80° 60°
- Jul 84° 64°
- Aug 83° 63°
- Sep 77° 56°
- Oct 65° 45°
- Nov 54° 36°
- Dec 44° 29°
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 Fairmont each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.09 in), the least in November (3.15 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 | 40°F | 24°F | 31.8°F | 3.81 | 15 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 26°F | 34.3°F | 3.22 | 13 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 33°F | 42.5°F | 4.21 | 13 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 42°F | 53.9°F | 3.90 | 14 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 5.09 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 80°F | 60°F | 70.0°F | 4.67 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 64°F | 73.6°F | 4.91 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 83°F | 63°F | 72.6°F | 3.80 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 56°F | 66.4°F | 3.85 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 45°F | 54.9°F | 3.43 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 36°F | 44.7°F | 3.15 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 29°F | 36.1°F | 3.73 | 14 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 44°F | 53.6°F | 47.77 | 148 | 8 | 109 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −4°C | −0.1°C | 97 mm |
| February | 6°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 82 mm |
| March | 11°C | 0°C | 5.8°C | 107 mm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 99 mm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 129 mm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 119 mm |
| July | 29°C | 18°C | 23.1°C | 125 mm |
| August | 28°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 97 mm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.1°C | 98 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.7°C | 87 mm |
| November | 12°C | 2°C | 7.1°C | 80 mm |
| December | 6°C | −2°C | 2.3°C | 95 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Tygart Dam (11 miles away), gets 26 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00462920; 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 Fairmont?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USC00462920.
When is the last frost in Fairmont?
In Fairmont, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 18 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 14 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 181 year in 10 after May 9; 9 in 10 after April 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 192 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 217 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before November 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fairmont in zone 6b in ZIP code 26554, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fairmont's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (21 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 West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00462920; 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 Fairmont?
In a normal year in Fairmont, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 109 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 148 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 109a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 25high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 148a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 108°F, on August 8, 1918; the lowest is −21°F, on January 20, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 63.52 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 83.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00462920; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00462920. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fairmont?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fairmont, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (55%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | 1.7 |
| February | 59% | 2.5 |
| March | 63% | 3.5 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 70% | 5.4 |
| June | 75% | 6.0 |
| July | 76% | 5.8 |
| August | 78% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.5 |
| October | 69% | 3.1 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 55% | 1.4 |
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 Fairmont need?
A normal year in Fairmont brings 5,017 heating degree days, 7% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 897 cooling degree days, 1% 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 3,457 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,029 | 0 |
| February | 861 | 0 |
| March | 700 | 2 |
| April | 350 | 17 |
| May | 146 | 68 |
| June | 24 | 174 |
| July | 2 | 270 |
| August | 4 | 238 |
| September | 66 | 110 |
| October | 329 | 16 |
| November | 611 | 1 |
| December | 894 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,017 | 897 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00462920. 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 Fairmont been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 54.9°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.6°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.7°F | +1.1°F | 42.93 |
| 2022 | 53.4°F | −0.2°F | 46.90 |
| 2023 | 54.9°F | +1.3°F | 40.26 |
Over 94 complete years from 1906 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00462920; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fairmont's climate compare?
Fairmont is warmer than 39 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 33. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.6°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fairmont is Dfa: continental, 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 Fairmont share this climate record?
12 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.
- Pleasant Valley, WV3,470 people · 1 mi W
- Barrackville, WV1,197 people · 4 mi NW
- Enterprise, WV1,084 people · 8 mi W
- Monongah, WV1,046 people · 5 mi W
- Rivesville, WV808 people · 5 mi N
- White Hall, WV704 people · 4 mi SW
- Grant Town, WV669 people · 7 mi N
- Idamay, WV635 people · 7 mi W
- Farmington, WV393 people · 7 mi NW
- Carolina, WV188 people · 7 mi W
- Worthington, WV173 people · 7 mi W
- Baxter, WV153 people · 6 mi N
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 Fairmont's climate
What is the coldest month in Fairmont?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Fairmont?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Fairmont's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Tygart Dam (11 miles away), records 26 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Fairmont?
May, with 5.09 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.15 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fairmont in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fairmont in zone 6b in ZIP code 26554, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fairmont's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Fairmont?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 18; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Fairmont in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tygart Dam, WV12 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Clarksburg, WV12 miles from this station, 54.9°F a year
- Morgantown, WV17 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Mannington, WV19 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made