Hightstown, New Jersey climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hightstown's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 47.5 inches of precipitation and 24 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.6°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,205 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHightstown (2 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00283951
- Location40.27°N 74.56°W
- Elevation100 ft (31 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population5,978
On October 23, the normal high in Hightstown is 64°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hightstown.
- Jan 41° 21°
- Feb 43° 23°
- Mar 51° 30°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 73° 48°
- Jun 82° 58°
- Jul 87° 63°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 66° 42°
- Nov 55° 33°
- Dec 46° 27°
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 Hightstown each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.82 in), the least in February (2.61 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 21°F | 31.0°F | 3.46 | 5.8 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 23°F | 32.8°F | 2.61 | 8.0 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 30°F | 40.3°F | 4.28 | 4.6 | 11 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 51.0°F | 3.67 | 0.6 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 48°F | 60.6°F | 4.07 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 58°F | 69.8°F | 4.63 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 63°F | 74.9°F | 4.82 | 0.0 | 11 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 72.9°F | 4.29 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 66.1°F | 4.15 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 42°F | 54.3°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 3.26 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| December | 46°F | 27°F | 36.1°F | 4.23 | 4.4 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 42°F | 52.8°F | 47.45 | 23.7 | 126 | 26 | 114 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.6°C | 88 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 6°C | −5°C | 0.4°C | 66 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 4.6°C | 109 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 93 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 14°C | 21.0°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.9°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.4°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 83 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.3°C | 107 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00283951; 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 Hightstown?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00283951.
When is the last frost in Hightstown?
In Hightstown, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 25 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 4 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 251 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 200 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hightstown in zone 7a in ZIP code 08520, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hightstown's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Jersey · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00283951; 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 Hightstown?
In a normal year in Hightstown, 26 days a year reach 90°F, 114 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 126 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 114a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 126a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1891) is 105°F, on July 9, 1936; the lowest is −16°F, on January 28, 1935.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 69.36 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 65.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00283951; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00283951. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hightstown?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hightstown, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 1.9 |
| February | 71% | 2.8 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 4.8 |
| May | 70% | 5.4 |
| June | 76% | 6.0 |
| July | 80% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.2 |
| September | 76% | 4.3 |
| October | 71% | 3.0 |
| November | 72% | 2.2 |
| December | 66% | 1.6 |
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 Hightstown need?
A normal year in Hightstown brings 5,315 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 903 cooling degree days, 0% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,272 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,055 | 0 |
| February | 900 | 0 |
| March | 766 | 1 |
| April | 431 | 10 |
| May | 184 | 47 |
| June | 33 | 175 |
| July | 2 | 307 |
| August | 5 | 248 |
| September | 72 | 103 |
| October | 344 | 12 |
| November | 626 | 0 |
| December | 897 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,315 | 903 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00283951. 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 Hightstown been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.0°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.8°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.0°F | +2.2°F | 55.36 | 28.2 |
| 2022 | 54.3°F | +1.5°F | 45.58 | 16.4 |
| 2023 | 55.5°F | +2.7°F | 52.55 | 2.4 |
| 2024 | 55.8°F | +3.0°F | 46.35 | 9.4 |
| 2025 | 54.0°F | +1.2°F | 39.48 | 15.3 |
Over 100 complete years from 1894 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00283951; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hightstown's climate compare?
Hightstown is warmer than 11 of the other 32 places with their own NOAA record in New Jersey, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.8°F is warmer than 53%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hightstown is Dfa: continental, 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 Hightstown share this climate record?
25 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.
- Princeton, NJ31,445 people · 8 mi NW
- Princeton Meadows, NJ15,382 people · 5 mi N
- Hamilton Square, NJ11,643 people · 5 mi SW
- Monmouth Junction, NJ9,457 people · 8 mi N
- Twin Rivers, NJ8,315 people · 4 mi E
- Heathcote, NJ6,689 people · 9 mi N
- Robbinsville Center, NJ3,808 people · 5 mi SW
- Rossmoor, NJ3,136 people · 7 mi NE
- Concordia, NJ2,724 people · 7 mi NE
- Plainsboro Center, NJ2,683 people · 5 mi N
- Whittingham, NJ2,516 people · 8 mi NE
- Clearbrook, NJ2,477 people · 6 mi NE
- Monroe Manor, NJ2,308 people · 5 mi E
- Cranbury, NJ2,304 people · 4 mi NE
- Forsgate, NJ2,094 people · 8 mi NE
- Stonebridge, NJ1,932 people · 5 mi E
- Princeton Junction, NJ1,842 people · 5 mi NW
- Allentown, NJ1,731 people · 6 mi S
- Kingston, NJ1,557 people · 8 mi N
- The Ponds, NJ995 people · 6 mi NE
- Roosevelt, NJ802 people · 6 mi SE
- Encore at Monroe, NJ713 people · 6 mi NE
- Renaissance at Monroe, NJ643 people · 4 mi E
- Cream Ridge, NJ477 people · 9 mi S
- Windsor, NJ381 people · 2 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 Hightstown's climate
What is the coldest month in Hightstown?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Hightstown?
Yes: 24 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hightstown?
July, with 4.82 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hightstown in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hightstown in zone 7a in ZIP code 08520, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hightstown's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Hightstown?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 25; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Jersey climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Trenton, NJ13 miles from this station, 54.1°F a year
- New Brunswick, NJ16 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Freehold, NJ17 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Wertsville (4 mi NE), NJ17 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made