Ithaca, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ithaca's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 38.3 inches of precipitation and 63 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.9°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 27°C, 973 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationIthaca Cornell University
- Station IDUSC00304174
- Location42.45°N 76.45°W
- Elevation960 ft (293 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population33,768
On October 22, the normal high in Ithaca is 57°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 50%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ithaca.
- Jan 31° 15°
- Feb 33° 15°
- Mar 41° 22°
- Apr 55° 33°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 76° 53°
- Jul 80° 58°
- Aug 79° 56°
- Sep 72° 49°
- Oct 59° 39°
- Nov 47° 30°
- Dec 36° 22°
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 Ithaca each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.98 in), the least in February (1.98 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 15°F | 22.8°F | 2.24 | 16.6 | 16 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 33°F | 15°F | 24.1°F | 1.98 | 14.5 | 13 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 22°F | 31.3°F | 2.78 | 12.0 | 14 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 33°F | 43.7°F | 3.40 | 2.8 | 14 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.6°F | 3.20 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 76°F | 53°F | 64.6°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 80°F | 58°F | 68.9°F | 3.90 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 79°F | 56°F | 67.4°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 49°F | 60.2°F | 3.83 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 59°F | 39°F | 49.0°F | 3.70 | 0.2 | 15 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 30°F | 38.6°F | 2.94 | 4.6 | 14 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 36°F | 22°F | 29.1°F | 2.57 | 12.2 | 16 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 36°F | 46.3°F | 38.29 | 62.9 | 166 | 5 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −10°C | −5.1°C | 57 mm | 42 cm |
| February | 1°C | −9°C | −4.4°C | 50 mm | 37 cm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.4°C | 71 mm | 30 cm |
| April | 13°C | 0°C | 6.5°C | 86 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 18.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.7°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 4°C | 9.4°C | 94 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.7°C | 75 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 2°C | −6°C | −1.6°C | 65 mm | 31 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00304174; 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 Ithaca?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (12).
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 USC00304174.
When is the last frost in Ithaca?
In Ithaca, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 11 in half of years and after May 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 21 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
- May 111 year in 10 after May 26; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 145 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 169 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ithaca in zone 6a in ZIP code 14853. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ithaca's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (30 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 New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00304174; 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 Ithaca?
In a normal year in Ithaca, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 166 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 51high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 166a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 103°F, on July 9, 1936; the lowest is −25°F, on January 16, 1957.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 51.22 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 120.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00304174; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00304174. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ithaca?
Over a year 67% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ithaca, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (76%) and December the cloudiest (49%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 53% | 1.4 |
| February | 57% | 2.2 |
| March | 61% | 3.3 |
| April | 65% | 4.5 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 72% | 5.8 |
| July | 76% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 73% | 4.1 |
| October | 62% | 2.6 |
| November | 59% | 1.7 |
| December | 49% | 1.1 |
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 Ithaca need?
A normal year in Ithaca brings 7,207 heating degree days, 34% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 416 cooling degree days, 54% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,276 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,308 | 0 |
| February | 1,145 | 0 |
| March | 1,045 | 0 |
| April | 642 | 3 |
| May | 314 | 24 |
| June | 95 | 81 |
| July | 27 | 148 |
| August | 42 | 116 |
| September | 184 | 40 |
| October | 501 | 3 |
| November | 792 | 0 |
| December | 1,113 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,207 | 416 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00304174. 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 Ithaca been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.7°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.3°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.2°F | +1.9°F | 47.90 | 64.8 |
| 2022 | 46.7°F | +0.4°F | 35.37 | 58.8 |
| 2023 | 48.3°F | +2.0°F | 42.47 | 39.5 |
| 2024 | 49.0°F | +2.7°F | 36.45 | 35.3 |
| 2025 | 46.7°F | +0.4°F | 35.89 | 39.4 |
Over 140 complete years from 1876 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00304174; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ithaca's climate compare?
Ithaca is warmer than 46 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 29. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.3°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ithaca is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Ithaca 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.
- South Hill, NY6,805 people · 3 mi SW
- Cayuga Heights, NY3,949 people · 2 mi NW
- Lansing, NY3,893 people · 3 mi NW
- Northeast Ithaca, NY2,575 people · 1 mi NW
- East Ithaca, NY2,372 people · 2 mi S
- Northwest Ithaca, NY1,813 people · 4 mi W
- South Lansing, NY1,233 people · 6 mi NW
- Forest Home, NY1,164 people · 1 mi W
- Newfield, NY1,112 people · 10 mi SW
- Varna, NY657 people · 1 mi NE
- Brooktondale, NY487 people · 5 mi SE
- Danby, NY440 people · 6 mi S
- Slaterville Springs, NY179 people · 6 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.
What do Ithaca's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Ithaca. This page uses Ithaca Cornell University; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca (13 mi E) USW00064758 | 13 mi E | 1,228 ft | 45.2°F | 13°F | 79°F | 41.7 | – | May 13 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Ithaca's climate
What is the coldest month in Ithaca?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Ithaca?
Yes: 63 inches in a normal year, falling on 43 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (16.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Ithaca?
June, with 3.98 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.98 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ithaca in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ithaca in zone 6a in ZIP code 14853. By the same method at Ithaca's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Ithaca?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 11; in one year in ten it comes after May 26. Waiting until May 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Freeville, NY7 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Mecklenburg (4 mi SW), NY16 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Spencer, NY16 miles from this station, 45.6°F a year
- Aurora, NY22 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made