Jefferson, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Jefferson's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 51.0 inches of precipitation and 14 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.6°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,294 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationJefferson (2 mi E)
- Station IDUSC00314496
- Location36.42°N 81.43°W
- Elevation2,759 ft (841 m)
- Population1,648
On October 24, the normal high in Jefferson is 63°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Jefferson.
- Jan 43° 22°
- Feb 47° 24°
- Mar 54° 29°
- Apr 63° 36°
- May 71° 45°
- Jun 78° 53°
- Jul 81° 58°
- Aug 80° 57°
- Sep 75° 50°
- Oct 66° 39°
- Nov 55° 29°
- Dec 47° 25°
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 Jefferson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.34 in), the least in February (3.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 22°F | 32.6°F | 3.91 | 4.3 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| February | 47°F | 24°F | 35.3°F | 3.28 | 3.3 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 29°F | 41.4°F | 4.06 | 2.9 | 8 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 36°F | 49.7°F | 4.78 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 71°F | 45°F | 58.2°F | 5.34 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 14 h |
| June | 78°F | 53°F | 65.7°F | 4.44 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 58°F | 69.5°F | 4.79 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 57°F | 68.4°F | 4.65 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 75°F | 50°F | 62.7°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 39°F | 52.0°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 29°F | 42.0°F | 3.61 | 0.2 | 6 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 47°F | 25°F | 35.7°F | 4.03 | 3.7 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 39°F | 51.1°F | 50.95 | 14.4 | 96 | 2 | 136 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 99 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 1.8°C | 83 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 5.2°C | 103 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 17°C | 2°C | 9.8°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 22°C | 7°C | 14.6°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −2°C | 5.6°C | 92 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 102 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314496; 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 Jefferson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00314496.
When is the last frost in Jefferson?
In Jefferson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 7 in half of years and after May 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 25 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 71 year in 10 after May 24; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 175 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Jefferson in zone 7a in ZIP code 28694, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Jefferson's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°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 USC00314496; 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 Jefferson?
In a normal year in Jefferson, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 136 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 136a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 98°F, on August 21, 1925; the lowest is −20°F, on December 30, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 79.43 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 76.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00314496; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00314496. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Jefferson?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Jefferson, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (75%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.4 |
| February | 66% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 71% | 5.7 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 74% | 5.8 |
| August | 75% | 5.3 |
| September | 74% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 3.6 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 68% | 2.1 |
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 Jefferson need?
A normal year in Jefferson brings 5,448 heating degree days, 1% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 408 cooling degree days, 55% 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 2,608 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,004 | 0 |
| February | 832 | 0 |
| March | 733 | 0 |
| April | 460 | 1 |
| May | 223 | 14 |
| June | 54 | 75 |
| July | 11 | 151 |
| August | 17 | 122 |
| September | 109 | 41 |
| October | 407 | 4 |
| November | 692 | 0 |
| December | 907 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,448 | 408 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314496. 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 Jefferson been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 53.3°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.1°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.8°F | +0.7°F | 45.82 | 13.2 |
| 2022 | 51.4°F | +0.3°F | 51.53 | 16.1 |
| 2023 | 52.5°F | +1.4°F | 44.86 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | 53.3°F | +2.2°F | 67.28 | 6.2 |
Over 51 complete years from 1966 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.3°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00314496; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Jefferson's climate compare?
Jefferson is warmer than 5 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 67. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.1°F is warmer than 45%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Jefferson is Cfb: temperate, 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 Jefferson share this climate record?
2 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.
- West Jefferson, NC1,341 people · 4 mi SW
- Troutdale, VA139 people · 19 mi N
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 Jefferson's climate
What is the coldest month in Jefferson?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Jefferson?
Yes: 14 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Jefferson?
May, with 5.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Jefferson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Jefferson in zone 7a in ZIP code 28694, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Jefferson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Jefferson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 7; in one year in ten it comes after May 24. Waiting until May 24 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
- Transou, NC7 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Sparta, NC16 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Boone, NC19 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Mountain City, TN21 miles from this station, 53.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made