Helen, Georgia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Helen's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 72.7 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.1°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,847 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHelen
- Station IDUSC00094230
- Location34.70°N 83.73°W
- Elevation1,493 ft (455 m)
- Population630
On October 23, the normal high in Helen is 68°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Helen.
- Jan 49° 29°
- Feb 53° 31°
- Mar 61° 36°
- Apr 70° 43°
- May 77° 52°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 80° 58°
- Oct 70° 46°
- Nov 60° 36°
- 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 Helen each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.97 in), the least in October (4.94 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 | 49°F | 29°F | 39.0°F | 6.78 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 31°F | 42.0°F | 6.03 | 0.7 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 11 h |
| March | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 6.75 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 43°F | 56.9°F | 5.82 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 52°F | 64.6°F | 5.56 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 71.9°F | 6.29 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.4°F | 5.63 | 0.0 | 11 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.5°F | 6.63 | 0.0 | 12 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 80°F | 58°F | 68.6°F | 5.33 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 46°F | 58.1°F | 4.94 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 36°F | 47.8°F | 5.98 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 32°F | 41.5°F | 6.97 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 46°F | 57.4°F | 72.71 | 1.5 | 120 | 25 | 80 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 172 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 12°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 153 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 171 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 21°C | 6°C | 13.8°C | 148 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 11°C | 18.1°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 160 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 143 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 168 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 8°C | 14.5°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 152 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 177 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00094230; 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 Helen?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00094230.
When is the last frost in Helen?
In Helen, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 11 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 13 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 111 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after March 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 197 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 223 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 30 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Helen in zone 7b in ZIP code 30571, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Helen's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (22 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Georgia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00094230; 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 Helen?
In a normal year in Helen, 25 days a year reach 90°F, 80 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 120 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 80a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 120a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1956) is 102°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −12°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 105.88 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 14.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00094230; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00094230. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Helen?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Helen, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.7 |
| February | 69% | 3.3 |
| March | 72% | 4.3 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 78% | 3.0 |
| December | 70% | 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 Helen need?
A normal year in Helen brings 3,815 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,069 cooling degree days, 18% 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 3,915 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 808 | 0 |
| February | 645 | 0 |
| March | 509 | 1 |
| April | 254 | 11 |
| May | 84 | 72 |
| June | 7 | 213 |
| July | 0 | 321 |
| August | 1 | 295 |
| September | 31 | 139 |
| October | 231 | 17 |
| November | 517 | 1 |
| December | 729 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,815 | 1,069 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00094230. 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 Helen been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 58.1°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.4°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.1°F | +0.7°F | 75.65 | 2.0 |
Over 41 complete years from 1960 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.7°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00094230; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Helen's climate compare?
Helen is warmer than 3 of the other 100 places with their own NOAA record in Georgia, and wetter than 84. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.4°F is warmer than 68%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Helen 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 Helen share this climate record?
Sautee-Nacoochee has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Sautee-Nacoochee, GA507 people · 3 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 Helen's climate
What is the coldest month in Helen?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Helen?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (0.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Helen?
December, with 6.97 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 4.94 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Helen in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Helen in zone 7b in ZIP code 30571, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Helen's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Helen?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 11; in one year in ten it comes after May 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Helen in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Georgia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sautee (3 mi W), GA2 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Cleveland, GA8 miles from this station, 57.1°F a year
- Clarkesville, GA12 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Blairsville, GA16 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made