Lafayette (2 mi W), Alabama climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Lafayette (2 mi W)'s normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 56.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.2°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,436 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLafayette (2 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00014502
- Location32.91°N 85.43°W
- Elevation740 ft (226 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Lafayette (2 mi W) is 73°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lafayette (2 mi W).
- Jan 56° 30°
- Feb 60° 34°
- Mar 68° 39°
- Apr 75° 46°
- May 82° 55°
- Jun 87° 64°
- Jul 90° 67°
- Aug 89° 66°
- Sep 84° 61°
- Oct 75° 49°
- Nov 65° 38°
- Dec 58° 33°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Lafayette (2 mi W) each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in January (5.70 in), the least in September (3.53 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 30°F | 42.9°F | 5.70 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 34°F | 46.9°F | 5.33 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 39°F | 53.5°F | 5.70 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 12 h |
| April | 75°F | 46°F | 60.3°F | 4.80 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 55°F | 68.5°F | 4.40 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 87°F | 64°F | 75.3°F | 4.48 | 11 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 90°F | 67°F | 78.7°F | 4.80 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 89°F | 66°F | 77.6°F | 4.23 | 10 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 84°F | 61°F | 72.4°F | 3.53 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 49°F | 61.8°F | 3.63 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 65°F | 38°F | 51.4°F | 4.31 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 33°F | 45.2°F | 5.61 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 48°F | 61.2°F | 56.52 | 110 | 59 | 72 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 145 mm |
| February | 16°C | 1°C | 8.3°C | 135 mm |
| March | 20°C | 4°C | 11.9°C | 145 mm |
| April | 24°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 122 mm |
| May | 28°C | 13°C | 20.3°C | 112 mm |
| June | 31°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 114 mm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 122 mm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.3°C | 107 mm |
| September | 29°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 90 mm |
| October | 24°C | 9°C | 16.6°C | 92 mm |
| November | 19°C | 3°C | 10.8°C | 109 mm |
| December | 14°C | 0°C | 7.3°C | 142 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, West Point (15 miles away), gets 0 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00014502; 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.
Which months are mildest at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September, October and November. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00014502.
When is the last frost at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
In Lafayette (2 mi W), the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 9 in half of years and after April 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 30 in half of years and before October 18 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 91 year in 10 after April 25; 9 in 10 after March 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 301 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 204 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 227 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 26 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lafayette (2 mi W) in zone 8a in ZIP code 36862, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00014502; 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 at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
In a normal year in Lafayette (2 mi W), 59 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 72 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 110 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 59a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 72a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 110a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1944) is 107°F, on July 24, 1952; the lowest is −7°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 80.18 in; the snowiest season is 2001–02, with 3.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00014502; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00014502. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Lafayette (2 mi W), 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.8 |
| February | 70% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 82% | 6.3 |
| June | 80% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.2 |
| December | 71% | 2.5 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Lafayette (2 mi W) record?
A normal year at Lafayette (2 mi W) brings 2,958 heating degree days, 45% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,602 cooling degree days, 77% 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 4,899 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 684 | 0 |
| February | 508 | 1 |
| March | 363 | 6 |
| April | 171 | 31 |
| May | 40 | 148 |
| June | 1 | 309 |
| July | 0 | 425 |
| August | 0 | 391 |
| September | 11 | 231 |
| October | 153 | 54 |
| November | 411 | 5 |
| December | 616 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 2,958 | 1,602 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00014502. 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.
Have recent years at Lafayette (2 mi W) been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 62.9°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61.9°F | +0.7°F | 69.39 |
| 2022 | 61.6°F | +0.4°F | 51.45 |
| 2023 | 62.0°F | +0.8°F | 62.45 |
| 2024 | 63.3°F | +2.0°F | 59.28 |
| 2025 | 62.9°F | +1.6°F | 57.40 |
Over 43 complete years from 1950 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00014502; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lafayette (2 mi W)'s climate compare?
Lafayette (2 mi W) is warmer than 17 of the 80 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 28. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.2°F is warmer than 78%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lafayette (2 mi W) 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.
Which places near Lafayette (2 mi W) share this climate record?
4 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.
- La Fayette, AL2,603 people · 2 mi E
- Daviston, AL177 people · 16 mi NW
- Penton, AL128 people · 8 mi N
- Abanda, AL48 people · 14 mi NW
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 Lafayette (2 mi W)'s climate
What is the coldest month at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, West Point (15 miles away), records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
January, with 5.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.53 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lafayette (2 mi W) in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lafayette (2 mi W) in zone 8a in ZIP code 36862, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Lafayette (2 mi W)?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 9; in one year in ten it comes after April 25. Waiting until April 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Camp Hill, AL14 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- West Point, GA14 miles from this station, 62.2°F a year
- Opelika, AL17 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Rock Mills, AL19 miles from this station, 61.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made