Ford City, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ford City's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 44.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.8°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,126 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFord City 4 S Dam
- Station IDUSC00362942
- Location40.72°N 79.51°W
- Elevation930 ft (284 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population2,763
On October 14, the normal high in Ford City is 65°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 42%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ford City.
- Jan 36° 17°
- Feb 39° 18°
- Mar 48° 26°
- Apr 62° 35°
- May 72° 46°
- Jun 80° 55°
- Jul 84° 59°
- Aug 83° 58°
- Sep 76° 51°
- Oct 64° 39°
- Nov 51° 30°
- Dec 40° 23°
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 Ford City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.69 in), the least in February (2.61 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 17°F | 26.4°F | 3.20 | 17 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 18°F | 28.4°F | 2.61 | 14 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 48°F | 26°F | 36.9°F | 3.25 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 35°F | 48.7°F | 3.66 | 15 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 3.99 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 55°F | 67.5°F | 4.69 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 59°F | 71.6°F | 4.45 | 12 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 58°F | 70.3°F | 4.22 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 76°F | 51°F | 63.2°F | 4.22 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 39°F | 51.5°F | 3.34 | 13 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 30°F | 40.4°F | 3.31 | 14 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 23°F | 31.4°F | 3.38 | 15 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 38°F | 49.6°F | 44.32 | 163 | 18 | 142 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −8°C | −3.1°C | 81 mm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −2.0°C | 66 mm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.7°C | 83 mm |
| April | 17°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 93 mm |
| May | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 101 mm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 119 mm |
| July | 29°C | 15°C | 22.0°C | 113 mm |
| August | 28°C | 14°C | 21.3°C | 107 mm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 107 mm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 85 mm |
| November | 11°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 84 mm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.3°C | 86 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Salina (3 mi W) (14 miles away), gets 29 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00362942; 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 Ford City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00362942.
When is the last frost in Ford City?
In Ford City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 2 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
- May 41 year in 10 after May 20; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 187 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ford City in zone 6b in ZIP code 16236, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ford City's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (20 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 Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00362942; 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 Ford City?
In a normal year in Ford City, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 142 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 163 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 142a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 30high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 163a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1943) is 104°F, on July 23, 2011; the lowest is −29°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 64.14 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 76.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00362942; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00362942. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ford City?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ford City, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and December the cloudiest (51%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 53% | 1.6 |
| February | 58% | 2.4 |
| March | 61% | 3.4 |
| April | 66% | 4.6 |
| May | 69% | 5.3 |
| June | 73% | 5.9 |
| July | 76% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.3 |
| October | 66% | 2.9 |
| November | 65% | 2.0 |
| December | 51% | 1.3 |
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 much heating and cooling does Ford City need?
A normal year in Ford City brings 6,194 heating degree days, 15% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 617 cooling degree days, 32% 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 2,793 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,195 | 0 |
| February | 1,023 | 0 |
| March | 870 | 0 |
| April | 494 | 3 |
| May | 222 | 36 |
| June | 48 | 123 |
| July | 8 | 212 |
| August | 12 | 175 |
| September | 116 | 61 |
| October | 425 | 7 |
| November | 738 | 0 |
| December | 1,043 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,194 | 617 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00362942. 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 Ford City been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 51.9°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.6°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.6°F | +2.0°F | 43.89 |
| 2022 | 49.7°F | +0.1°F | 51.52 |
| 2023 | 51.9°F | +2.3°F | 41.92 |
Over 52 complete years from 1949 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.0°F per century (+0.17°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00362942; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ford City's climate compare?
Ford City is warmer than 40 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 57. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.6°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ford City is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Ford City share this climate record?
10 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.
- Kittanning, PA3,920 people · 8 mi N
- West Hills, PA1,522 people · 9 mi N
- Lenape Heights, PA1,225 people · 3 mi N
- West Kittanning, PA1,153 people · 7 mi N
- Worthington, PA572 people · 11 mi NW
- Manorville, PA367 people · 5 mi N
- Ford Cliff, PA349 people · 3 mi N
- Applewold, PA325 people · 6 mi N
- Elderton, PA320 people · 9 mi E
- Clinton, PA98 people · 4 mi W
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 Ford City's climate
What is the coldest month in Ford City?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Ford City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Ford City's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Salina (3 mi W) (14 miles away), records 29 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Ford City?
June, with 4.69 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ford City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ford City in zone 6b in ZIP code 16236, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Ford City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Ford City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 20. Waiting until May 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Schenley, PA9 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Natrona, PA13 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Salina (3 mi W), PA14 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Loyalhanna, PA18 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made