Fort Payne, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fort Payne's normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 58.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.8°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,474 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFort Payne
- Station IDUSC00013043
- Location34.44°N 85.72°W
- Elevation917 ft (280 m)
- Population15,017
On October 22, the normal high in Fort Payne is 74°F and the normal low 49°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fort Payne.
- Jan 52° 32°
- Feb 57° 36°
- Mar 65° 42°
- Apr 74° 50°
- May 81° 58°
- Jun 88° 67°
- Jul 91° 70°
- Aug 90° 69°
- Sep 86° 64°
- Oct 76° 52°
- Nov 64° 41°
- Dec 55° 35°
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 Fort Payne each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.62 in), the least in October (3.60 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 32°F | 41.8°F | 5.27 | – | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 57°F | 36°F | 46.2°F | 5.39 | – | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 65°F | 42°F | 53.7°F | 5.28 | – | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 50°F | 61.5°F | 5.07 | – | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 5.01 | – | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 67°F | 77.1°F | 4.60 | – | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 70°F | 80.4°F | 5.38 | – | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 90°F | 69°F | 79.7°F | 3.86 | – | 19 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 64°F | 74.7°F | 4.42 | – | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 52°F | 63.9°F | 3.60 | – | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.6°F | 4.53 | – | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 35°F | 45.1°F | 5.62 | – | <1 | 15 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 51°F | 62.2°F | 58.03 | – | 60 | 57 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 0°C | 5.4°C | 134 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 137 mm |
| March | 18°C | 6°C | 12.1°C | 134 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 129 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 127 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 117 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.9°C | 137 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.5°C | 98 mm |
| September | 30°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 112 mm |
| October | 24°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 91 mm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 115 mm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.3°C | 143 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Valley Head station (11 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 USC00013043; 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 Fort Payne?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October.
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 USC00013043.
When is the last frost in Fort Payne?
In Fort Payne, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 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 291 year in 10 after April 16; 9 in 10 after March 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 225 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 254 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 14 in half of springs and before November 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fort Payne in zones 7b to 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7b in 35967, the largest).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00013043; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Fort Payne ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Fort Payne's 2 ZIP code areas run from zone 7b to 8a: 1 in 7b and 1 in 8a. 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 Fort Payne?
In a normal year in Fort Payne, 60 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more) and 57 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 60a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 57a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00013043.
How sunny is Fort Payne?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fort Payne, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.9 |
| November | 76% | 2.9 |
| December | 67% | 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 Fort Payne need?
A normal year in Fort Payne brings 2,922 heating degree days, 46% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,940 cooling degree days, 2.1 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 5,326 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 718 | 0 |
| February | 530 | 2 |
| March | 359 | 10 |
| April | 158 | 53 |
| May | 38 | 183 |
| June | 1 | 365 |
| July | 0 | 477 |
| August | 0 | 456 |
| September | 9 | 301 |
| October | 116 | 84 |
| November | 378 | 8 |
| December | 616 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 2,922 | 1,940 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00013043. 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.
How does Fort Payne's climate compare?
Fort Payne is warmer than 26 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 45. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.2°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fort Payne 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 Fort Payne share this climate record?
8 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.
- Rainsville, AL5,931 people · 7 mi NW
- Sylvania, AL1,824 people · 10 mi NW
- Fyffe, AL976 people · 10 mi W
- Powell, AL929 people · 12 mi NW
- Geraldine, AL911 people · 17 mi W
- Shiloh, AL331 people · 9 mi W
- Pine Ridge, AL268 people · 3 mi W
- Lakeview, AL166 people · 15 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 Fort Payne's climate
What is the coldest month in Fort Payne?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Fort Payne?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Fort Payne's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Valley Head station (11 miles away), records 5 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Fort Payne?
December, with 5.62 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.60 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fort Payne in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fort Payne in zones 7b to 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7b in 35967, the largest).
How late can frost come in Fort Payne?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; in one year in ten it comes after April 16. Waiting until April 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Valley Head, AL11 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Summerville, GA19 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Centre, AL21 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Scottsboro, AL24 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made