Lake City, SC 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 Lake City's primary NOAA station, LAKE CITY 2 SE.
The climate verdict for Lake City
Water is the standout signal in Lake City, South Carolina: 49.8 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 64°F. It scores 92/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 92% of them.
- 64°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 92/100
- comfort score, above 92% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.8"
- yearly precipitation total
- 238 days
- frost-free growing season
Lake City: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00384886 · Lake City, SC 64°F mean · 49.8" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 64°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,900
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Americus
- PRCP-MID 49.8"
- SWING-MID 36°F
- COMF-TOP 92/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00384886
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Americus, GA (+ 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 SC station list.
- Lake City (this station) 64°F
- Hot El Dorado S AR…, AR 64°F
- Near Americus, GA 64°F
- Near Childs, AZ 64°F
- Near Demopolis L&d, AL 64°F
Climate Living Index · Lake City
Lake City: 79/100 · grade B
Lake City publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lake City, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 92/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 64.2°F · 3.3° from 67.5°F | 90/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 67 calendar days | 86/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 238 days/year | 84/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 49.8 in · 14.8 from 35 in | 48/100 · D |
Lake City · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lake City is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 46.0°F and warmest-month mean 81.8°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
- 81.8°F
- Coldest month
- 46.0°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 Lake City sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lake City's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 14% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Lake City sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- Lake City's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 80%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Lake City is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lake City compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lake City's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
92 Top 8% score exceeds 92% 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%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F (14°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 3.6" | 16.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 61°F (16°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 3.5" | 10.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.6" | 6.1 | 0.2 |
| April | 77°F (25°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.2" | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| May | 83°F (29°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| June | 89°F (32°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 15.5 |
| July | 92°F (34°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 5.8" | 0.0 | 22.4 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 5.8" | 0.0 | 18.0 |
| September | 86°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.7" | 0.0 | 8.6 |
| October | 77°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 3.5" | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| November | 68°F (20°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.1" | 6.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 61°F (16°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.9" | 13.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Lake City runs from a mild 34°F around January 13 to 93°F at the peak near July 7, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 18 through August 23, covering 67 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 24 to November 9.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 34°F around January 13.
The widest day
April 16 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 Lake City.
Where Lake City Stands Nationally
Heat is a defining feature of the normals calendar — the normal daily high reaches 90°F on roughly 67 days a year, more than four out of five ranked stations record.
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 50 inches.
Lake City earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Lake City spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 33% of the annual total and December through February 22%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lake City has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 35.8°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 5.8" and November 3.1". The three wettest months together take 33% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 20
50% probability date
Growing Season
238 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,415
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,148
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SC closest to Lake City 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 (64°F here).
- Americus, GA 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Fort Hancock, TX 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Lumpkin, GA 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Mineola, TX 64°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Glennville, GA 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Bridgehampton, NY 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Old Forge, NY 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Leitchfield, KY 49.8" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Lake City's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Lake City averages 49.8 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 Lake City's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 35.8°F. The annual average is 64°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Lake City's normal, at 2,415 and 2,148 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 238-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 Lake City'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 Lake City, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Lake City's climate
How much rain does Lake City get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Lake City get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lake City? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lake City's primary station: LAKE CITY 2 SE (USC00384886). 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 4539310). Match rule for Lake City: 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 Lake City 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.