Helena, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Helena's normal year runs from 35°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 55.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.7°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,413 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHelena
- Station IDUSC00013781
- Location33.27°N 86.83°W
- Elevation480 ft (146 m)
- Population22,200
On October 22, the normal high in Helena is 74°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Helena.
- Jan 55° 35°
- Feb 60° 38°
- Mar 68° 45°
- Apr 76° 51°
- May 83° 60°
- Jun 90° 68°
- Jul 92° 71°
- Aug 92° 70°
- Sep 87° 64°
- Oct 76° 52°
- Nov 65° 42°
- Dec 57° 37°
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 Helena each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in February (5.58 in), the least in October (3.62 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 35°F | 44.7°F | 5.10 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 38°F | 49.0°F | 5.58 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 45°F | 56.5°F | 5.34 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 51°F | 63.6°F | 5.18 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 60°F | 71.9°F | 4.15 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 90°F | 68°F | 78.7°F | 4.23 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 71°F | 81.7°F | 4.76 | 13 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 92°F | 70°F | 81.1°F | 4.42 | 11 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 64°F | 75.8°F | 3.93 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 52°F | 64.3°F | 3.62 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 42°F | 53.3°F | 4.66 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 37°F | 46.9°F | 4.65 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 55.62 | 123 | 87 | 51 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 130 mm |
| February | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 142 mm |
| March | 20°C | 7°C | 13.6°C | 136 mm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 132 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 105 mm |
| June | 32°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 107 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.6°C | 121 mm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 27.3°C | 112 mm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 100 mm |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 92 mm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 118 mm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.3°C | 118 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Bessemer (13 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00013781; 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 Helena?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May 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 USC00013781.
When is the last frost in Helena?
In Helena, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 19 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 in half of years and before October 26 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 191 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after February 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 236 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 262 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 4 in half of springs and before November 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Helena in zone 8a in ZIP code 35080. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Helena's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (16 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 Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00013781; 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 Helena?
In a normal year in Helena, 87 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 51 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 87a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 51a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00013781.
How sunny is Helena?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Helena, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.7 |
| February | 67% | 3.2 |
| March | 72% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 79% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 68% | 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 Helena need?
A normal year in Helena brings 2,542 heating degree days, 53% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,186 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,766 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 630 | 1 |
| February | 454 | 4 |
| March | 285 | 22 |
| April | 108 | 68 |
| May | 20 | 232 |
| June | 0 | 410 |
| July | 0 | 518 |
| August | 0 | 499 |
| September | 4 | 328 |
| October | 115 | 93 |
| November | 362 | 10 |
| December | 564 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,542 | 2,186 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00013781. 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 Helena's climate compare?
Helena is warmer than 44 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.9°F is warmer than 85%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Helena 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 Helena share this climate record?
6 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.
- Hoover, ALalso near: Bessemer (12 mi, 63.7°F a year); Birmingham (14 mi, 63.9°F a year)93,013 people · 7 mi N
- Pelham, AL25,396 people · 6 mi NE
- Chelsea, AL17,293 people · 12 mi E
- Meadowbrook, AL8,939 people · 11 mi NE
- Indian Springs Village, AL2,551 people · 8 mi NE
- Brantleyville, AL720 people · 5 mi SW
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 Helena's climate
What is the coldest month in Helena?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Helena?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Helena's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Bessemer (13 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Helena?
February, with 5.58 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.62 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Helena in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Helena in zone 8a in ZIP code 35080. By the same method at Helena's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Helena?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 19; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alabaster, AL7 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Bessemer, AL13 miles from this station, 63.7°F a year
- Birmingham, AL21 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Thorsby, AL26 miles from this station, 62.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made