Gainesville, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gainesville's normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 94°F August afternoons, with 42.8 inches of precipitation and 3 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.3°C, January lows of 0°C, August highs of 35°C, 1,086 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGainesville (5 mi ENE)
- Station IDUSC00413420
- Location33.65°N 97.06°W
- Elevation870 ft (265 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population18,295
On October 23, the normal high in Gainesville is 73°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gainesville.
- Jan 53° 32°
- Feb 58° 35°
- Mar 66° 43°
- Apr 74° 51°
- May 80° 60°
- Jun 89° 69°
- Jul 94° 73°
- Aug 94° 72°
- Sep 87° 65°
- Oct 76° 54°
- Nov 64° 43°
- Dec 55° 34°
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 Gainesville each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.64 in), the least in January (2.21 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 32°F | 42.2°F | 2.21 | 1.3 | 5 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 58°F | 35°F | 46.5°F | 2.56 | 0.3 | 5 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 66°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 3.65 | 0.6 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 51°F | 62.2°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 60°F | 70.0°F | 5.64 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 69°F | 78.6°F | 4.64 | 0.0 | 6 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 94°F | 73°F | 83.1°F | 2.91 | 0.0 | 5 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 94°F | 72°F | 83.3°F | 2.83 | 0.0 | 5 | 24 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 65°F | 75.9°F | 3.90 | 0.0 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 54°F | 64.9°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 43°F | 53.1°F | 3.02 | 0.1 | 5 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 55°F | 34°F | 44.3°F | 3.11 | 0.3 | 5 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 53°F | 63.2°F | 42.75 | 2.6 | 70 | 82 | 50 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 56 mm | 3 cm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 65 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 93 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 16°C | 21.1°C | 143 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 23°C | 28.4°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 35°C | 22°C | 28.5°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 18°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 79 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00413420; 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 Gainesville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00413420.
When is the last frost in Gainesville?
In Gainesville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 19 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 14 in half of years and before October 31 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 191 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after February 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 141 year in 10 before October 31; 9 in 10 before December 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 242 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 265 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 5 in half of springs and before November 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gainesville in zone 8a in ZIP code 76241. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Gainesville's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00413420; 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 Gainesville?
In a normal year in Gainesville, 82 days a year reach 90°F (18 of them 100°F or more), 50 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 70 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 82a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 50a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 70a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1987) is 113°F, on July 23, 2018; the lowest is −7°F, on December 24, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 87.72 in; the snowiest season is 1991–92, with 9.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00413420; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00413420. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Gainesville?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gainesville, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.9 |
| February | 72% | 3.5 |
| March | 74% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.6 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 85% | 6.9 |
| July | 88% | 6.9 |
| August | 87% | 6.3 |
| September | 84% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.1 |
| December | 75% | 2.6 |
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 Gainesville need?
A normal year in Gainesville brings 2,886 heating degree days, 46% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,259 cooling degree days, 2.5 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 5,701 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 709 | 0 |
| February | 520 | 3 |
| March | 351 | 15 |
| April | 142 | 56 |
| May | 33 | 189 |
| June | 1 | 408 |
| July | 0 | 563 |
| August | 0 | 567 |
| September | 9 | 335 |
| October | 111 | 109 |
| November | 370 | 13 |
| December | 641 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 2,886 | 2,259 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00413420. 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 Gainesville been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 65.8°F, 2.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.2°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.1°F | −0.1°F | 43.09 | – |
| 2022 | 64.0°F | +0.8°F | 37.02 | – |
| 2023 | 65.1°F | +1.9°F | 44.01 | – |
| 2024 | 65.8°F | +2.6°F | 39.53 | – |
Over 113 complete years from 1897 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted -0.5°F per century (−0.03°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00413420; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Gainesville's climate compare?
Gainesville is warmer than 64 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 244. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.2°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Gainesville 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 Gainesville share this climate record?
6 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.
- Whitesboro, TX4,145 people · 9 mi E
- Lake Kiowa, TX2,496 people · 6 mi SE
- Collinsville, TX2,045 people · 11 mi SE
- Thackerville, OK411 people · 11 mi NW
- Callisburg, TX356 people · 4 mi NE
- Oak Ridge, TX296 people · 1 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 Gainesville's climate
What is the coldest month in Gainesville?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is August (94°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Gainesville?
Yes: 3 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (1.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Gainesville?
May, with 5.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 2.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gainesville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Gainesville in zone 8a in ZIP code 76241. By the same method at Gainesville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Gainesville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 19; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Marietta, OK17 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Pilot Point, TX19 miles from this station, 64.8°F a year
- Burneyville, OK21 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Sherman, TX24 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made