Franklin, Indiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Franklin's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 45.4 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.9°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,152 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFranklin Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00123091
- Location39.47°N 86.04°W
- Elevation720 ft (220 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population26,158
On October 14, the normal high in Franklin is 67°F and the normal low 42°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 Franklin.
- Jan 35° 18°
- Feb 40° 20°
- Mar 51° 29°
- Apr 63° 40°
- May 73° 51°
- Jun 81° 61°
- Jul 84° 64°
- Aug 83° 61°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 52° 31°
- 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 Franklin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.27 in), the least in February (2.50 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 18°F | 26.6°F | 2.99 | 6.3 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 40°F | 20°F | 29.8°F | 2.50 | 4.2 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 29°F | 39.9°F | 3.65 | 2.2 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 4.91 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 51°F | 61.7°F | 5.27 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 61°F | 71.1°F | 5.05 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 64°F | 74.0°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 83°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 3.31 | 0.0 | 7 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 66.0°F | 3.21 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.5°F | 3.34 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 3.52 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 23°F | 31.8°F | 3.40 | 3.8 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 41°F | 51.6°F | 45.36 | 16.9 | 114 | 18 | 117 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −8°C | −3.0°C | 76 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.2°C | 64 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 10°C | −1°C | 4.4°C | 93 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.5°C | 134 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 16°C | 21.7°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 18°C | 23.3°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.9°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 89 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 5°C | −5°C | −0.1°C | 86 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00123091; 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 Franklin?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00123091.
When is the last frost in Franklin?
In Franklin, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 7 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 201 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after April 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 180 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 201 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Franklin in zone 6b in ZIP code 46131. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Franklin's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Indiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00123091; 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 Franklin?
In a normal year in Franklin, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 117 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 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
- 117a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00123091.
How sunny is Franklin?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Franklin, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 61% | 1.8 |
| February | 63% | 2.6 |
| March | 66% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 69% | 2.2 |
| December | 59% | 1.6 |
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 Franklin need?
A normal year in Franklin brings 5,752 heating degree days, 7% more 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 3,303 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,189 | 0 |
| February | 986 | 0 |
| March | 779 | 1 |
| April | 423 | 6 |
| May | 167 | 66 |
| June | 20 | 201 |
| July | 2 | 281 |
| August | 7 | 226 |
| September | 72 | 103 |
| October | 371 | 13 |
| November | 707 | 0 |
| December | 1,031 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,752 | 897 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00123091. 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 Franklin been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.6°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 54.2°F | +2.6°F | 48.73 | 8.1 |
| 2025 | 52.0°F | +0.4°F | 51.87 | 30.6 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00123091. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Franklin's climate compare?
Franklin is warmer than 48 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Indiana, and wetter than 58. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.6°F is warmer than 48%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Franklin 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 Franklin share this climate record?
13 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.
- Bargersville, IN11,283 people · 10 mi NW
- New Whiteland, IN5,842 people · 7 mi NW
- Whiteland, IN5,511 people · 6 mi N
- Edinburgh, IN4,478 people · 9 mi SE
- Trafalgar, IN1,607 people · 7 mi SW
- Prince's Lakes, IN1,372 people · 9 mi SW
- Cordry Sweetwater Lakes, IN1,200 people · 12 mi S
- Pleasant View Village, IN741 people · 10 mi S
- Nineveh, IN694 people · 8 mi S
- Amity, IN338 people · 3 mi SE
- Flat Rock, IN215 people · 13 mi SE
- Marietta, IN137 people · 9 mi E
- Needham, IN0 people · 6 mi NE
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 Franklin's climate
What is the coldest month in Franklin?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Franklin?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Franklin?
May, with 5.27 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Franklin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Franklin in zone 6b in ZIP code 46131. By the same method at Franklin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Franklin?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Indiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Shelbyville, IN15 miles from this station, 54.2°F a year
- Beech Grove, IN17 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Indianapolis, IN21 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Columbus, IN22 miles from this station, 54.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made