Hot Springs, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hot Springs's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 46.7 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.4°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,185 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHot Springs
- Station IDUSC00314260
- Location35.90°N 82.83°W
- Elevation1,345 ft (410 m)
- Population543
On October 23, the normal high in Hot Springs is 69°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hot Springs.
- Jan 48° 29°
- Feb 52° 31°
- Mar 60° 37°
- Apr 71° 44°
- May 78° 54°
- Jun 84° 62°
- Jul 87° 65°
- Aug 86° 65°
- Sep 82° 59°
- Oct 72° 47°
- Nov 60° 36°
- Dec 52° 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 Hot Springs each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.22 in), the least in October (2.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 29°F | 38.4°F | 3.66 | 1.6 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 52°F | 31°F | 41.6°F | 3.34 | 2.6 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 37°F | 48.6°F | 3.99 | 0.5 | 13 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 44°F | 57.4°F | 3.83 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 78°F | 54°F | 65.7°F | 4.50 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 62°F | 72.9°F | 5.22 | 0.0 | 13 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 65°F | 76.3°F | 4.67 | 0.0 | 13 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 86°F | 65°F | 75.5°F | 4.93 | 0.0 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 47°F | 59.3°F | 2.40 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 36°F | 48.4°F | 2.86 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 32°F | 41.5°F | 3.91 | 1.2 | 12 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 47°F | 58.0°F | 46.66 | 6.1 | 134 | 29 | 82 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 93 mm | 4 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 85 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 16°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 101 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 7°C | 14.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 9.1°C | 73 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 99 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314260; 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 Hot Springs?
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 USC00314260.
When is the last frost in Hot Springs?
In Hot Springs, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 11 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 16 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 April 27; 9 in 10 after March 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 16; 9 in 10 before November 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 201 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 225 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 29 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hot Springs in zone 7a in ZIP code 28753, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hot Springs's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (18 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 North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00314260; 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 Hot Springs?
In a normal year in Hot Springs, 29 days a year reach 90°F, 82 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 134 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 82a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 134a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00314260.
How sunny is Hot Springs?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hot Springs, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. November is the sunniest month (77%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.6 |
| February | 70% | 3.3 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 74% | 5.4 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 71% | 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 Hot Springs need?
A normal year in Hot Springs brings 3,805 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,273 cooling degree days, 40% 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 4,224 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 825 | 0 |
| February | 657 | 1 |
| March | 512 | 2 |
| April | 253 | 23 |
| May | 83 | 104 |
| June | 7 | 244 |
| July | 0 | 350 |
| August | 0 | 324 |
| September | 24 | 185 |
| October | 214 | 36 |
| November | 503 | 3 |
| December | 727 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,805 | 1,273 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314260. 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 Hot Springs been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.0°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.0°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.6°F | +0.6°F | 50.20 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 58.5°F | +0.5°F | 41.65 | 13.3 |
| 2023 | 59.2°F | +1.2°F | 48.43 | 2.0 |
| 2025 | 59.0°F | +1.0°F | 41.42 | 9.8 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00314260. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hot Springs's climate compare?
Hot Springs is warmer than 39 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.0°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hot Springs 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.
Questions about Hot Springs's climate
What is the coldest month in Hot Springs?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Hot Springs?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 6 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (2.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hot Springs?
June, with 5.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hot Springs in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hot Springs in zone 7a in ZIP code 28753, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hot Springs's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Hot Springs?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 11; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Marshall, NC11 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Greeneville, TN14 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Waterville 2, NC17 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Newport, TN22 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made