Gastonia, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gastonia's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 43.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.7°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,100 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGastonia Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053870
- Location35.20°N 81.16°W
- Elevation797 ft (243 m)
- Population85,535
On October 23, the normal high in Gastonia is 72°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gastonia.
- Jan 53° 33°
- Feb 58° 36°
- Mar 65° 42°
- Apr 74° 50°
- May 81° 58°
- Jun 88° 67°
- Jul 91° 70°
- Aug 89° 69°
- Sep 83° 63°
- Oct 74° 51°
- Nov 64° 41°
- Dec 56° 36°
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 Gastonia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.21 in), the least in February (3.28 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 33°F | 42.9°F | 3.34 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| February | 58°F | 36°F | 46.8°F | 3.28 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 42°F | 53.6°F | 3.94 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 50°F | 62.0°F | 3.88 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 58°F | 69.6°F | 3.46 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 67°F | 77.0°F | 4.21 | 12 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 70°F | 80.5°F | 3.47 | 13 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 69°F | 79.2°F | 3.95 | 12 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 63°F | 73.2°F | 3.75 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 51°F | 62.7°F | 3.29 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.3°F | 3.30 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 56°F | 36°F | 45.8°F | 3.44 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 51°F | 62.1°F | 43.31 | 124 | 51 | 60 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 85 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 83 mm |
| March | 18°C | 6°C | 12.0°C | 100 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 99 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 88 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 25.0°C | 107 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.9°C | 88 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 100 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 95 mm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 84 mm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 84 mm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 87 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Gastonia's own co-op station Gastonia station does: 1 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053870; 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 Gastonia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00053870.
When is the last frost in Gastonia?
In Gastonia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 24 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 9 in half of years and before October 27 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 241 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after March 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 91 year in 10 before October 27; 9 in 10 before November 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 230 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 256 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 11 in half of springs and before November 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gastonia in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 28052, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Gastonia's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053870; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Gastonia ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Gastonia's 3 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Gastonia?
In a normal year in Gastonia, 51 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 60 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 51a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 60a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1999) is 105°F, on July 1, 2012; the lowest is 2°F, on January 24, 2003.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 58.39 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053870; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00053870. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Gastonia?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gastonia, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (72%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 243rd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 72% | 3.3 |
| March | 73% | 4.3 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 76% | 6.0 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 78% | 3.0 |
| December | 72% | 2.3 |
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 Gastonia need?
A normal year in Gastonia brings 2,871 heating degree days, 47% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,850 cooling degree days, 2.0 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 5,211 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 685 | 0 |
| February | 513 | 2 |
| March | 368 | 13 |
| April | 144 | 55 |
| May | 30 | 173 |
| June | 1 | 361 |
| July | 0 | 479 |
| August | 0 | 440 |
| September | 12 | 258 |
| October | 135 | 62 |
| November | 386 | 6 |
| December | 597 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,871 | 1,850 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053870. 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 Gastonia been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.0°F, 1.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 62.1°F. 0 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61.6°F | −0.5°F | 35.34 |
| 2022 | 60.8°F | −1.3°F | 45.10 |
| 2023 | 61.6°F | −0.5°F | 48.96 |
| 2025 | 61.0°F | −1.1°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053870. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Gastonia's climate compare?
Gastonia is warmer than 105 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 6. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.1°F is warmer than 80%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Gastonia 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 Gastonia share this climate record?
11 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.
- Lake Wylie, SC15,177 people · 8 mi SE
- Clover, SC7,558 people · 7 mi SW
- Dallas, NC6,270 people · 9 mi N
- Bessemer City, NC5,730 people · 9 mi NW
- Cramerton, NC5,604 people · 5 mi NE
- Ranlo, NC4,756 people · 7 mi N
- Stanley, NC4,147 people · 11 mi N
- Lowell, NC3,863 people · 6 mi NE
- Springdale, NC1,120 people · 7 mi N
- McAdenville, NC936 people · 6 mi NE
- Spencer Mountain, NC0 people · 8 mi N
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 Gastonia's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Gastonia. This page uses Gastonia Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastonia station USC00313356 | 5 mi N | 700 ft | 61.8°F | 31°F | 91°F | 44.0 | 1 | March 27 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Gastonia's climate
What is the coldest month in Gastonia?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Gastonia?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Gastonia's NOAA station; Gastonia's own co-op station Gastonia station records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Gastonia?
June, with 4.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gastonia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Gastonia in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 28052, the largest). By the same method at Gastonia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Gastonia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 24; in one year in ten it comes after April 10. Waiting until April 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Gastonia in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Charlotte, NC11 miles from this station, 61.4°F a year
- Rock Hill, SC16 miles from this station, 61.0°F a year
- York, SC19 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Winthrop University, SC19 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made