Fayetteville, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fayetteville's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 44.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.2°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,132 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFayetteville Regional Airport Grannis Field
- Station IDUSW00093740
- Location34.99°N 78.88°W
- Elevation186 ft (57 m)
- From the center8 miles
- Population209,496
On October 22, the normal high in Fayetteville is 73°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fayetteville.
- Jan 54° 34°
- Feb 58° 36°
- Mar 65° 42°
- Apr 75° 51°
- May 82° 60°
- Jun 89° 68°
- Jul 91° 72°
- Aug 89° 70°
- Sep 84° 65°
- Oct 75° 53°
- Nov 65° 42°
- Dec 57° 36°
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 Fayetteville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in August (5.36 in), the least in February (2.78 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 | 54°F | 34°F | 44.0°F | 3.15 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| February | 58°F | 36°F | 47.0°F | 2.78 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 3.08 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 51°F | 62.8°F | 3.15 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 60°F | 70.9°F | 3.11 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 68°F | 78.3°F | 4.89 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 72°F | 81.7°F | 4.95 | 12 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 70°F | 79.8°F | 5.36 | 12 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 65°F | 74.2°F | 4.87 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 53°F | 63.8°F | 3.23 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 42°F | 53.6°F | 3.04 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 57°F | 36°F | 46.5°F | 2.97 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 52°F | 63.0°F | 44.58 | 118 | 71 | 47 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 80 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 71 mm |
| March | 19°C | 6°C | 12.1°C | 78 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 80 mm |
| May | 28°C | 15°C | 21.6°C | 79 mm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 124 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.6°C | 126 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 136 mm |
| September | 29°C | 18°C | 23.4°C | 124 mm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 82 mm |
| November | 18°C | 6°C | 12.0°C | 77 mm |
| December | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 75 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Fayetteville's own co-op station Fayetteville (PWC) does: 1 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093740; 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 Fayetteville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, 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 USW00093740.
When is the last frost in Fayetteville?
In Fayetteville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 22 in half of years and after April 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 13 in half of years and before November 1 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 221 year in 10 after April 8; 9 in 10 after March 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 131 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 236 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 263 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fayetteville in zones 8a to 8b across its 11 ZIP code areas (8a in 28310, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fayetteville's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°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 North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093740; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Fayetteville ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Fayetteville's 11 ZIP code areas run from zone 8a to 8b: 7 in 8a and 4 in 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Fayetteville?
In a normal year in Fayetteville, 71 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 47 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 71a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 47a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in Fayetteville's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1910) is 107°F, on July 22, 1932; the lowest is −1°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1936, with 69.12 in; the snowiest season is 1926–27, with 28.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093740; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record FAYthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Fayetteville, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 69°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 70°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (31°F). March is the windiest month (8.8 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (73%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 60% | 40% | 7.9 mph | 69% | 22% |
| February | 35°F | 59% | 40% | 8.3 mph | 67% | 21% |
| March | 43°F | 59% | 38% | 8.8 mph | 66% | 21% |
| April | 53°F | 64% | 42% | 8.2 mph | 67% | 16% |
| May | 63°F | 67% | 46% | 6.9 mph | 67% | 13% |
| June | 69°F | 71% | 49% | 6.5 mph | 72% | 7% |
| July | 70°F | 73% | 52% | 6.2 mph | 69% | 10% |
| August | 68°F | 74% | 53% | 6.3 mph | 70% | 14% |
| September | 60°F | 73% | 51% | 6.5 mph | 73% | 15% |
| October | 47°F | 69% | 44% | 6.6 mph | 71% | 18% |
| November | 39°F | 67% | 45% | 6.8 mph | 72% | 16% |
| December | 34°F | 66% | 47% | 7.1 mph | 69% | 21% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093740. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Fayetteville?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fayetteville, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (73%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 210th (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.8 |
| February | 73% | 3.4 |
| March | 75% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 79% | 3.0 |
| December | 75% | 2.4 |
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 Fayetteville need?
A normal year in Fayetteville brings 2,734 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,050 cooling degree days, 2.3 times 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 5,512 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 652 | 2 |
| February | 508 | 4 |
| March | 362 | 15 |
| April | 136 | 70 |
| May | 25 | 208 |
| June | 0 | 401 |
| July | 0 | 516 |
| August | 0 | 457 |
| September | 7 | 285 |
| October | 115 | 79 |
| November | 353 | 11 |
| December | 575 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,734 | 2,050 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093740. 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 Fayetteville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 63.5°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.0°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.0°F | +1.0°F | 37.18 |
| 2022 | 64.2°F | +1.2°F | 33.29 |
| 2023 | 64.8°F | +1.8°F | 41.67 |
| 2024 | 65.0°F | +2.0°F | 45.28 |
| 2025 | 63.5°F | +0.5°F | 36.03 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093740. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fayetteville's climate compare?
Fayetteville is warmer than 115 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.0°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville share this climate record?
9 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.
- Hope Mills, NC18,102 people · 5 mi W
- Spring Lake, NC11,530 people · 15 mi NW
- Eastover, NC3,710 people · 9 mi NE
- St. Pauls, NC2,081 people · 14 mi SW
- Vander, NC1,614 people · 6 mi NE
- Stedman, NC1,303 people · 10 mi E
- Parkton, NC504 people · 10 mi SW
- Autryville, NC174 people · 14 mi E
- Rex, NC55 people · 14 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Fayetteville's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Fayetteville. This page uses Fayetteville Regional Airport Grannis Field; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville (PWC) USC00313017 | 7 mi E | 96 ft | 61.9°F | 32°F | 91°F | 47.9 | 1 | March 30 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Fayetteville's climate
What is the coldest month in Fayetteville?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Fayetteville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Fayetteville's NOAA station; Fayetteville's own co-op station Fayetteville (PWC) records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Fayetteville?
August, with 5.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.78 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fayetteville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fayetteville in zones 8a to 8b across its 11 ZIP code areas (8a in 28310, the largest). By the same method at Fayetteville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Fayetteville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 22; in one year in ten it comes after April 8. Waiting until April 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Fayetteville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Raeford, NC19 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Dunn, NC25 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Lumberton, NC29 miles from this station, 63.5°F a year
- Lillington, NC29 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made