Glasgow, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Glasgow's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 54.9 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.3°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,394 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGlasgow
- Station IDUSC00153246
- Location37.00°N 85.91°W
- Elevation770 ft (235 m)
- Population15,388
On October 22, the normal high in Glasgow is 71°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 33%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Glasgow.
- Jan 47° 29°
- Feb 52° 31°
- Mar 62° 39°
- Apr 73° 47°
- May 81° 56°
- Jun 87° 64°
- Jul 90° 68°
- Aug 90° 66°
- Sep 84° 59°
- Oct 74° 48°
- Nov 60° 39°
- Dec 51° 32°
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 Glasgow each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.77 in), the least in August (3.44 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 29°F | 38.1°F | 4.14 | 2.2 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 31°F | 41.8°F | 4.40 | 1.7 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 5.15 | 0.9 | 13 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 47°F | 59.7°F | 5.27 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 81°F | 56°F | 68.5°F | 5.77 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 87°F | 64°F | 75.6°F | 4.88 | 0.0 | 12 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 68°F | 79.1°F | 4.97 | 0.0 | 11 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 90°F | 66°F | 77.9°F | 3.44 | 0.0 | 8 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 84°F | 59°F | 71.3°F | 3.79 | 0.0 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 48°F | 60.7°F | 3.74 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 39°F | 49.5°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 51°F | 32°F | 41.4°F | 5.41 | 0.9 | 14 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 48°F | 59.5°F | 54.88 | 5.7 | 134 | 52 | 80 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −2°C | 3.4°C | 105 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 11°C | 0°C | 5.4°C | 112 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 131 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 134 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 13°C | 20.3°C | 147 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 26.2°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 4°C | 9.7°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 137 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00153246; 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 Glasgow?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00153246.
When is the last frost in Glasgow?
In Glasgow, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 9 in half of years and after April 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 27 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 91 year in 10 after April 28; 9 in 10 after March 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 271 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 201 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 225 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 28 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Glasgow in zone 7a in ZIP code 42141, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Glasgow's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00153246; 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 Glasgow?
In a normal year in Glasgow, 52 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 80 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 134 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 52a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 80a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 134a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1953) is 105°F, on July 9, 1988; the lowest is −25°F, on January 24, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1974, with 67.38 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 54.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00153246; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00153246. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Glasgow?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Glasgow, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 2.0 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 62% | 1.8 |
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 Glasgow need?
A normal year in Glasgow brings 3,616 heating degree days, 33% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,637 cooling degree days, 80% more than 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 4,756 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 834 | 0 |
| February | 649 | 1 |
| March | 463 | 8 |
| April | 206 | 45 |
| May | 48 | 155 |
| June | 2 | 322 |
| July | 0 | 437 |
| August | 0 | 398 |
| September | 23 | 211 |
| October | 186 | 54 |
| November | 472 | 6 |
| December | 732 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,616 | 1,637 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00153246. 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 Glasgow's climate compare?
Glasgow is warmer than 65 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.5°F is warmer than 73%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Glasgow 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 Glasgow share this climate record?
2 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.
- Cave City, KY2,394 people · 10 mi N
- Horse Cave, KY2,270 people · 12 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.
Questions about Glasgow's climate
What is the coldest month in Glasgow?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Glasgow?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Glasgow?
May, with 5.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.44 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Glasgow in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Glasgow in zone 7a in ZIP code 42141, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Glasgow's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Glasgow?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 9; in one year in ten it comes after April 28. Waiting until April 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Knob Lick (4 mi S), KY12 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Summer Shade, KY14 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Barren River Lake, KY14 miles from this station, 57.4°F a year
- Mammoth Cave, KY16 miles from this station, 60.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made