Falls Lake, North Carolina climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Falls Lake's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 47.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.5°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,207 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFalls Lake
- Station IDUSC00312993
- Location35.98°N 78.65°W
- Elevation280 ft (85 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Falls Lake is 66°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Falls Lake.
- Jan 49° 28°
- Feb 53° 30°
- Mar 62° 36°
- Apr 71° 45°
- May 77° 55°
- Jun 84° 64°
- Jul 87° 68°
- Aug 85° 67°
- Sep 79° 61°
- Oct 68° 48°
- Nov 59° 37°
- Dec 52° 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 at Falls Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in September (5.27 in), the least in February (2.94 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 28°F | 38.6°F | 3.49 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 30°F | 41.5°F | 2.94 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 36°F | 48.7°F | 4.19 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 45°F | 58.0°F | 3.69 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 55°F | 65.7°F | 3.52 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 64°F | 73.7°F | 4.12 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 87°F | 68°F | 77.7°F | 4.80 | 11 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 67°F | 75.7°F | 4.71 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 61°F | 69.8°F | 5.27 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 48°F | 57.9°F | 3.31 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 37°F | 48.0°F | 3.62 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 32°F | 41.7°F | 3.86 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 47.52 | 116 | 36 | 82 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.7°C | 89 mm |
| February | 12°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 75 mm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 106 mm |
| April | 22°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 94 mm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 18.7°C | 89 mm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.2°C | 105 mm |
| July | 31°C | 20°C | 25.4°C | 122 mm |
| August | 29°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 120 mm |
| September | 26°C | 16°C | 21.0°C | 134 mm |
| October | 20°C | 9°C | 14.4°C | 84 mm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 92 mm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.4°C | 98 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Raleigh (9 miles away), gets 5 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00312993; 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.
Which months are mildest at Falls Lake?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00312993.
When is the last frost at Falls Lake?
In Falls Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 4 in half of years and after April 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 22 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 41 year in 10 after April 19; 9 in 10 after March 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 213 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 237 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 24 in half of springs and before November 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Falls Lake in zone 8a in ZIP code 27614, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00312993; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 at Falls Lake?
In a normal year in Falls Lake, 36 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 82 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 116 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 36a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 82a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 116a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00312993.
How sunny is it at Falls Lake?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Falls Lake, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Falls Lake record?
A normal year at Falls Lake brings 3,819 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,324 cooling degree days, 46% 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 4,233 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 818 | 0 |
| February | 658 | 0 |
| March | 510 | 5 |
| April | 241 | 33 |
| May | 79 | 101 |
| June | 5 | 266 |
| July | 0 | 392 |
| August | 0 | 332 |
| September | 27 | 169 |
| October | 246 | 24 |
| November | 511 | 1 |
| December | 723 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,819 | 1,324 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00312993. 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.
Have recent years at Falls Lake been warmer than normal?
2024 averaged 60.8°F, 2.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.1°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.1°F | +1.0°F | 51.68 |
| 2022 | 59.1°F | +1.0°F | 50.54 |
| 2023 | 60.0°F | +1.9°F | 53.28 |
| 2024 | 60.8°F | +2.7°F | 58.37 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00312993. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Falls Lake's climate compare?
Falls Lake is warmer than 40 of the 131 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 34. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.1°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Falls Lake 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 Falls Lake share this climate record?
5 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.
- Wake Forest, NCalso near: Louisburg (15 mi, 59.1°F a year); Raleigh (16 mi, 61.2°F a year)56,764 people · 8 mi E
- Rolesville, NC11,854 people · 11 mi SE
- Butner, NC8,134 people · 12 mi NW
- Creedmoor, NC5,049 people · 10 mi N
- Youngsville, NC2,375 people · 10 mi E
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 Falls Lake's climate
What is the coldest month at Falls Lake?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow at Falls Lake?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Raleigh (9 miles away), records 5 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Falls Lake?
September, with 5.27 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.94 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Falls Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Falls Lake in zone 8a in ZIP code 27614, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at Falls Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 4; in one year in ten it comes after April 19. Waiting until April 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Raleigh, NC9 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Durham, NC18 miles from this station, 58.3°F a year
- Apex, NC19 miles from this station, 60.1°F a year
- Cary, NC19 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made