Front Royal, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Front Royal's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 43.4 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.6°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,102 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFront Royal
- Station IDUSC00443229
- Location38.90°N 78.18°W
- Elevation930 ft (284 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population15,628
On October 22, the normal high in Front Royal is 65°F and the normal low 43°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 Front Royal.
- Jan 43° 24°
- Feb 47° 26°
- Mar 54° 33°
- Apr 67° 43°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 87° 64°
- Aug 85° 62°
- Sep 78° 56°
- Oct 67° 45°
- Nov 56° 35°
- Dec 47° 28°
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 Front Royal each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.76 in), the least in February (2.45 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 24°F | 33.6°F | 2.85 | 4.7 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 47°F | 26°F | 36.1°F | 2.45 | 9.4 | 8 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 33°F | 43.4°F | 3.77 | 2.2 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 43°F | 54.5°F | 3.41 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.8°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 14 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 4.49 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 87°F | 64°F | 75.4°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 11 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 62°F | 73.5°F | 3.96 | 0.0 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 56°F | 66.7°F | 4.76 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 45°F | 56.1°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 35°F | 45.5°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 47°F | 28°F | 37.4°F | 3.11 | 4.8 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 44°F | 54.7°F | 43.37 | 21.1 | 120 | 27 | 101 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −4°C | 0.9°C | 72 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 2.3°C | 62 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 12°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 96 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.5°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 2°C | 7.5°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 8°C | −2°C | 3.0°C | 79 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00443229; 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 Front Royal?
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 USC00443229.
When is the last frost in Front Royal?
In Front Royal, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 13 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 14 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 131 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after March 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 196 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 221 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 2 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Front Royal in zone 7a in ZIP code 22630, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Front Royal's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00443229; 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 Front Royal?
In a normal year in Front Royal, 27 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 101 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 120 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 101a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 12high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 120a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1995) is 104°F, on July 5, 1999; the lowest is −4°F, on January 18, 2003.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 61.96 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 69.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00443229; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00443229. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Front Royal?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Front Royal, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (78%) and January the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.2 |
| February | 70% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.4 |
| November | 75% | 2.5 |
| December | 70% | 1.9 |
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 Front Royal need?
A normal year in Front Royal brings 4,740 heating degree days, 12% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,013 cooling degree days, 12% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,613 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 975 | 0 |
| February | 809 | 0 |
| March | 672 | 2 |
| April | 333 | 20 |
| May | 137 | 69 |
| June | 18 | 202 |
| July | 1 | 323 |
| August | 3 | 267 |
| September | 60 | 111 |
| October | 294 | 18 |
| November | 584 | 1 |
| December | 854 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,740 | 1,013 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00443229. 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 Front Royal's climate compare?
Front Royal is warmer than 29 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.7°F is warmer than 59%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Front Royal 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 Front Royal 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.
- Shenandoah Farms, VA3,956 people · 9 mi NE
- Apple Mountain Lake, VA1,801 people · 4 mi E
- Chester Gap, VA896 people · 5 mi SE
- Shenandoah Shores, VA783 people · 5 mi NE
- Skyland Estates, VA607 people · 6 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 Front Royal's climate
What is the coldest month in Front Royal?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Front Royal?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (9.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Front Royal?
September, with 4.76 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.45 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Front Royal in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Front Royal in zone 7a in ZIP code 22630, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Front Royal's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Front Royal?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Front Royal in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Woodstock, VA16 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Sperryville, VA17 miles from this station, 54.2°F a year
- Star Tannery, VA19 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Mount Weather, VA19 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made