Galax, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Galax's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 45.6 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.4°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,158 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGalax Radio WBRF
- Station IDUSC00443267
- Location36.66°N 80.91°W
- Elevation2,385 ft (727 m)
- Population6,739
On October 14, the normal high in Galax is 66°F and the normal low 42°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 Galax.
- Jan 42° 23°
- Feb 47° 26°
- Mar 54° 32°
- Apr 65° 39°
- May 72° 49°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 81° 60°
- Sep 75° 53°
- Oct 65° 41°
- Nov 55° 32°
- Dec 46° 27°
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 Galax each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.46 in), the least in October (3.05 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 | 42°F | 23°F | 32.9°F | 3.66 | 4.6 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 26°F | 36.0°F | 3.11 | 5.8 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 32°F | 42.7°F | 3.76 | 3.4 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 39°F | 52.0°F | 4.07 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 49°F | 60.6°F | 3.99 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.9°F | 4.09 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.4°F | 4.22 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 60°F | 70.1°F | 4.44 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 4.46 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 41°F | 53.3°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 32°F | 43.1°F | 3.31 | 0.4 | 8 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 27°F | 36.1°F | 3.42 | 1.9 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 42°F | 52.5°F | 45.58 | 16.6 | 117 | 3 | 123 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 93 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 2.2°C | 79 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 12°C | 0°C | 5.9°C | 96 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 103 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 0°C | 6.2°C | 84 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.3°C | 87 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00443267; 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 Galax?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, 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 USC00443267.
When is the last frost in Galax?
In Galax, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before October 1 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 261 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 171 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 194 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Galax in zone 7a in ZIP code 24333, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Galax's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (18 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 USC00443267; 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 Galax?
In a normal year in Galax, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 123 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 123a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 13high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1954) is 98°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −18°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 70.32 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 60.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00443267; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00443267. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Galax?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Galax, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (78%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.5 |
| February | 70% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 77% | 5.4 |
| September | 75% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 77% | 2.8 |
| December | 70% | 2.1 |
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 Galax need?
A normal year in Galax brings 5,111 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 582 cooling degree days, 36% 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 2,956 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 997 | 0 |
| February | 812 | 0 |
| March | 693 | 0 |
| April | 392 | 4 |
| May | 167 | 31 |
| June | 31 | 118 |
| July | 4 | 204 |
| August | 8 | 166 |
| September | 89 | 56 |
| October | 366 | 4 |
| November | 657 | 0 |
| December | 896 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,111 | 582 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00443267. 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 Galax been warmer than normal lately?
Over 38 complete years from 1957 to 2015, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.0°F per century (+0.28°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Galax's climate compare?
Galax is warmer than 5 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 35. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.5°F is warmer than 52%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Galax is Cfb: temperate, no dry season, warm 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 Galax 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.
- Woodlawn, VA2,461 people · 8 mi NE
- Fries, VA444 people · 5 mi NW
- Hilltown, VA306 people · 6 mi NW
- Lowgap, NC226 people · 10 mi S
- Stevens Creek, VA100 people · 6 mi NW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Galax's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Galax. This page uses Galax Radio WBRF; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galax Water Treatment Plant USC00443272 | 1 mi S | 2,341 ft | 52.7°F | 24°F | 82°F | 51.0 | – | April 22 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Galax's climate
What is the coldest month in Galax?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Galax?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Galax?
September, with 4.46 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.05 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Galax in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Galax in zone 7a in ZIP code 24333, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Galax's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Galax?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Galax in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Elk Creek (4 mi SSW), VA16 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Mount Airy, NC19 miles from this station, 55.5°F a year
- Sparta, NC19 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Wytheville, VA23 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made