Hickory, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hickory's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 47.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.0°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,198 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHickory Faa Airport
- Station IDUSW00003810
- Location35.74°N 81.38°W
- Elevation1,143 ft (348 m)
- Population45,081
On October 14, the normal high in Hickory is 71°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 Hickory.
- Jan 49° 30°
- Feb 53° 33°
- Mar 61° 40°
- Apr 70° 48°
- May 77° 56°
- Jun 84° 64°
- Jul 87° 68°
- Aug 86° 67°
- Sep 80° 61°
- Oct 70° 49°
- Nov 60° 39°
- Dec 52° 33°
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 Hickory each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.58 in), the least in February (3.21 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 | 49°F | 30°F | 39.7°F | 3.81 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 33°F | 43.0°F | 3.21 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 40°F | 50.1°F | 4.08 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 48°F | 58.8°F | 4.08 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 56°F | 66.8°F | 3.86 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 64°F | 74.3°F | 4.35 | 12 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 68°F | 77.7°F | 4.29 | 12 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 86°F | 67°F | 76.4°F | 4.58 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 80°F | 61°F | 70.4°F | 3.93 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 49°F | 59.6°F | 3.49 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 39°F | 49.3°F | 3.62 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 33°F | 42.2°F | 3.85 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 49°F | 59.0°F | 47.15 | 118 | 33 | 69 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −1°C | 4.3°C | 97 mm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 82 mm |
| March | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 104 mm |
| April | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 104 mm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 98 mm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.5°C | 110 mm |
| July | 31°C | 20°C | 25.4°C | 109 mm |
| August | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 116 mm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.3°C | 100 mm |
| October | 21°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 89 mm |
| November | 16°C | 4°C | 9.6°C | 92 mm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 98 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Lenoir (15 miles away), gets 4 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003810; 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 Hickory?
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 (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 USW00003810.
When is the last frost in Hickory?
In Hickory, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 22 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 311 year in 10 after April 16; 9 in 10 after March 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 219 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 242 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 18 in half of springs and before November 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hickory in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 28601, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hickory's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (29 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 USW00003810; 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 Hickory ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Hickory's 2 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 Hickory?
In a normal year in Hickory, 33 days a year reach 90°F, 69 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 33a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 69a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1949) is 105°F, on July 29, 1952; the lowest is −8°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2020, with 80.64 in; the snowiest season is 1986–87, with 30.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003810; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003810. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hickory?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hickory, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| 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 Hickory need?
A normal year in Hickory brings 3,548 heating degree days, 34% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,395 cooling degree days, 54% 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 4,412 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 786 | 0 |
| February | 616 | 0 |
| March | 466 | 4 |
| April | 212 | 28 |
| May | 61 | 116 |
| June | 5 | 285 |
| July | 0 | 395 |
| August | 0 | 352 |
| September | 23 | 184 |
| October | 198 | 29 |
| November | 473 | 2 |
| December | 709 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,548 | 1,395 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003810. 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 Hickory been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 60.3°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.0°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.4°F | +1.4°F | 37.39 |
| 2022 | 59.9°F | +0.9°F | 59.03 |
| 2023 | 60.8°F | +1.8°F | 42.76 |
| 2024 | 61.4°F | +2.4°F | 54.63 |
| 2025 | 60.3°F | +1.3°F | 39.17 |
Over 70 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.0°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003810; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hickory's climate compare?
Hickory is warmer than 51 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 30. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.0°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hickory 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 Hickory share this climate record?
13 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.
- St. Stephens, NC9,409 people · 6 mi E
- Long View, NC5,289 people · 1 mi S
- Sawmills, NC5,059 people · 7 mi NW
- Granite Falls, NC4,942 people · 4 mi NW
- Bethlehem, NC3,928 people · 7 mi NE
- Mountain View, NC3,068 people · 4 mi S
- Icard, NC2,291 people · 4 mi W
- Hildebran, NC1,680 people · 3 mi SW
- Connelly Springs, NC1,545 people · 7 mi W
- Northlakes, NC1,462 people · 3 mi N
- Rutherford College, NC1,228 people · 8 mi W
- Rhodhiss, NC987 people · 3 mi NW
- Brookford, NC449 people · 3 mi SE
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 Hickory's climate
What is the coldest month in Hickory?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Hickory?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Hickory's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Lenoir (15 miles away), records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Hickory?
August, with 4.58 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hickory in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hickory in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 28601, the largest). By the same method at Hickory's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Hickory?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 16. Waiting until April 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Hickory in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lenoir, NC15 miles from this station, 57.9°F a year
- Catawba, NC16 miles from this station, 60.1°F a year
- Vale Agricultural (2 mi SW), NC16 miles from this station, 57.7°F a year
- Morganton, NC16 miles from this station, 57.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made