Kinston, NC Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Kinston's primary NOAA station, KINSTON 7 SE.
The climate verdict for Kinston
Water is the standout signal in Kinston, North Carolina: 53.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 61°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 61°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 53.0"
- yearly precipitation total
- 217 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Kinston: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00314684 · Kinston, NC 61°F mean · 53.0" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 61°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,352
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Altus Dam
- PRCP-WET 53.0"
- SWING-MID 37°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00314684
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Altus Dam, OK (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every NC station list.
- Kinston (this station) 61°F
- Hot Avalon Catalina, CA 61°F
- Near Altus Dam, OK 61°F
- Near Ames Plantation, TN 61°F
- Near Auburn, CA 61°F
Climate Living Index · Kinston
Kinston: 73/100 · grade B
Kinston publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Kinston, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 63 calendar days | 88/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 61.2°F · 6.3° from 67.5°F | 80/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 217 days/year | 76/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 53.0 in · 18.0 from 35 in | 36/100 · F |
Kinston · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Kinston is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 42.5°F and warmest-month mean 79.8°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 79.8°F
- Coldest month
- 42.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Kinston sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Kinston's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 22% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Kinston sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 14% wettest
- Kinston's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 76%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Kinston is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Kinston compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Kinston's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Kinston's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 81 complete annual observations from 1901 to 2016, KINSTON 7 SE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Kinston primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F (12°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 3.7" | 17.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.2" | 14.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 64°F (18°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 3.7" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 74°F (23°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 3.5" | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| May | 81°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| June | 87°F (31°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 5.4" | 0.0 | 10.1 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 6.6" | 0.0 | 16.3 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 6.1" | 0.0 | 11.1 |
| September | 83°F (29°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 5.9" | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| October | 75°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 4.1" | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| November | 65°F (18°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.4" | 8.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 57°F (14°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.5" | 15.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Kinston works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 90°F by July 7 and hold at or above 90°F on 20 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 43 dates, bottoming at 31°F around January 18.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 2 through July 21, covering 20 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 4 to October 30.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 11, then returns to freezing around December 31, covering 43 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 24, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 1 at 25%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 117 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 9 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Kinston.
Where Kinston Stands Nationally
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 53 inches.
Kinston earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
10.8 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
Kinston spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Kinston has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 37.3°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 6.6" and February 3.2". The three wettest months together take 35% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Kinston, it arrives in quantity
53.0" of precipitation falls across only about 116 wet days here, averaging 0.46 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 116 a year, 32% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.46 inches
- Most wet days
- July, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- April, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
217 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,105
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,743
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NC closest to Kinston on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (61°F here).
- Auburn, CA 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Camden, SC 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Camp Hill, AL 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Chickamauga, GA 61°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (53.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bowling Green, KY 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Monticello, AR 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Rock Mills, AL 53.0" · 0.0" off
- Danbury, CT 53.0" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Kinston's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Kinston averages 53.0 inches of precipitation a year. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Kinston's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 37.3°F. The annual average is 61°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Kinston's normal, at 3,105 and 1,743 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 217-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Kinston's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Kinston, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Kinston's climate
How much rain does Kinston get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Kinston get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Kinston? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Kinston's primary station: KINSTON 7 SE (USC00314684). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3735920). Match rule for Kinston: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Kinston comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.