Gainesville, AL Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Gainesville's primary NOAA station, GAINESVILLE 2 NE.
The climate verdict for Gainesville
Water is the standout signal in Gainesville, Alabama: 60.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 64°F. It scores 85/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 85% of them.
- 64°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 85/100
- comfort score, above 85% of station-mapped location scores
- 60.0"
- annual precipitation
- 246 days
- frost-free growing season
Gainesville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00063892 · Gainesville, AL 64°F mean · 60.0" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 64°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,832
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Balmorhea
- PRCP-WET 60.0"
- SWING-MID 36°F
- COMF-TOP 85/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USW00063892
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Balmorhea, TX (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every AL station list.
- Gainesville (this station) 64°F
- Hot Eden, TX 64°F
- Near Balmorhea, TX 64°F
- Near Birmingham, AL 64°F
- Near Blackville, SC 64°F
Climate Living Index · Gainesville
Gainesville: 74/100 · grade B
Gainesville publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Gainesville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 85/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 51 calendar days | 91/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 63.9°F · 3.6° from 67.5°F | 89/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 246 days/year | 87/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 60.0 in · 25.0 from 35 in | 12/100 · F |
Gainesville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Gainesville is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 45.1°F and warmest-month mean 81.2°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 81.2°F
- Coldest month
- 45.1°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Gainesville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Gainesville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 15% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Gainesville sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 6% wettest
- Gainesville's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 79%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Gainesville is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Gainesville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Gainesville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
85 Top 15% score exceeds 85% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F (13°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 5.9" | 15.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 5.4" | 9.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 6.4" | 2.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 4.9" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 82°F (28°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.9" | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| June | 88°F (31°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 15.7 |
| July | 91°F (33°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 4.7" | 0.0 | 19.5 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 7.2" | 0.0 | 18.3 |
| September | 86°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 11.4 |
| October | 76°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 3.8" | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 4.2" | 5.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 58°F (14°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 5.1" | 11.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Gainesville runs from a mild 34°F around January 15 to 92°F at the peak near July 26, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 4 through August 23, covering 51 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 23 to November 1.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 34°F around January 15.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 12, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 28 at 20%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 109 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Gainesville.
Where Gainesville Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 60 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Gainesville earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
9.6 days with precipitation
10.2 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
11.8 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
6.1 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
Gainesville spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 27%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Gainesville has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 36.1°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 7.2" and September 3.7". The three wettest months together take 32% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Gainesville, it arrives in quantity
60.0" of precipitation falls across only about 109 wet days here, averaging 0.55 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 109 a year, 30% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.55 inches
- Most wet days
- July, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 6
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 12
50% probability date
Growing Season
246 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,461
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,101
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AL closest to Gainesville on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (64°F here).
- Balmorhea, TX 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Blackville, SC 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Eden, TX 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Hanford, CA 64°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (60.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Monticello, FL 59.9" · 0.0" off
- Rayville, LA 60.0" · 0.0" off
- Monroe, LA 59.9" · 0.1" off
- Cookeville, TN 60.0" · 0.1" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Gainesville's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Gainesville averages 60.0 inches of precipitation a year. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Gainesville's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 36.1°F. The annual average is 64°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Gainesville's normal, at 2,461 and 2,101 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
The frost-free window extends for about 246 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Gainesville's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Gainesville, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Gainesville's climate
How much rain does Gainesville get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Gainesville get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Gainesville? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Gainesville's primary station: GAINESVILLE 2 NE (USW00063892). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0128768). Match rule for Gainesville: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Gainesville comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.