Harrisburg, PA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Harrisburg's primary NOAA station, HARRISBURG 1 NE.
The climate verdict for Harrisburg
Water is the standout signal in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: 45.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 52°F. Its climate comfort score of 63/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 46% of station-mapped location scores.
- 52°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 63/100
- comfort score, above 46% of station-mapped location scores
- 45.2"
- annual precipitation · 24" snow
- 191 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Harrisburg: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00363698 · Harrisburg, PA 52°F mean · 45.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,362
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Whitestown
- PRCP-MID 45.2"
- SWING-WIDE 46°F
- COMF-MID 63/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,614 HDD
- STN-1 USC00363698
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Whitestown, IN (+ 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 PA station list.
- Harrisburg (this station) 52°F
- Hot Greeley Unc, CO 52°F
- Near Whitestown, IN 52°F
- Near Hartford Braina…, CT 52°F
- Near Huntsville, OH 52°F
Climate Living Index · Harrisburg
Harrisburg: 57/100 · grade C
Harrisburg publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Harrisburg, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 63/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 121 calendar days | 64/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 45.2 in · 10.2 from 35 in | 64/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 191 days/year | 58/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 51.9°F · 15.6° from 67.5°F | 49/100 · D |
| Snowfall burden | 23.9 inches/year | 45/100 · D |
Harrisburg · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Harrisburg is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.2°F and warmest-month mean 74.9°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 74.9°F
- Coldest month
- 29.2°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 · heating-led station
Where Harrisburg sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Harrisburg's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 49th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 69th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 63rd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Harrisburg compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Harrisburg's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
63 46th percentile score exceeds 46% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F (3°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 2.9" | 6.4" | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (4°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 2.8" | 7.7" | 24.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 3.9" | 4.5" | 18.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 3.9" | 0.4" | 4.0 | 0.1 |
| May | 72°F (22°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| July | 85°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.7 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 4.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (11°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 2.9" | 0.7" | 12.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 41°F (5°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.4" | 4.2" | 23.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 11, short of 90°F on every date, while 121 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 21°F near January 28.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 22, then returns to freezing around November 23, covering 121 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 18, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 7 at 29%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 126 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 1 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Harrisburg.
Where Harrisburg Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Harrisburg 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 and snowfall
Snow: 6.4"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.7"
8.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
11.7 days with precipitation
13.3 days with precipitation
12.0 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
8.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
10.1 days with precipitation
Harrisburg spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Harrisburg has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 45.7°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 4.8" and February 2.8". The three wettest months together take 30% 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 Harrisburg, it arrives in quantity
45.2" of precipitation falls across only about 125 wet days here, averaging 0.36 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 125 a year, 34% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.36 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 13
- Fewest wet days
- February, about 9
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.
Winter brings real snow to Harrisburg
Harrisburg averages 23.9 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 12 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 23.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 12 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 5% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 23
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 15
50% probability date
Growing Season
191 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,614
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
890
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside PA closest to Harrisburg 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 (52°F here).
- Atwood, KS 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Boston, MA 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Curtis, NE 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Escalante, UT 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (45.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Columbia, SC 45.2" · 0.0" off
- Frostburg, MD 45.2" · 0.0" off
- Hampton, SC 45.3" · 0.0" off
- Union, SC 45.3" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Harrisburg
heating led · wet · mid swing
Harrisburg's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,614 annual heating degree days against 890 for cooling. Its 45.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Harrisburg's frost-free season lasts about 191 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Harrisburg coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 29°F (-2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Harrisburg typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Harrisburg snow peak
February
Harrisburg averages 23.9 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Harrisburg's climate
How much snow does Harrisburg get? ▼
How cold does Harrisburg get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Harrisburg? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Harrisburg's primary station: HARRISBURG 1 NE (USC00363698). 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 4232800). Match rule for Harrisburg: 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 Harrisburg 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.