Lake Placid, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lake Placid's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 74°F July afternoons, with 43.8 inches of precipitation and 104 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.8°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 23°C, 1,112 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLake Placid (2 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00304555
- Location44.30°N 73.98°W
- Elevation1,888 ft (576 m)
- Population2,302
On October 23, the normal high in Lake Placid is 49°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 49%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lake Placid.
- Jan 23° 7°
- Feb 27° 8°
- Mar 36° 16°
- Apr 49° 29°
- May 62° 40°
- Jun 70° 49°
- Jul 74° 54°
- Aug 73° 52°
- Sep 66° 45°
- Oct 52° 35°
- Nov 40° 25°
- Dec 29° 14°
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 Lake Placid each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 74°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.81 in), the least in February (2.29 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F | 7°F | 14.9°F | 3.10 | 21.0 | 19 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 27°F | 8°F | 17.7°F | 2.29 | 21.0 | 14 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 36°F | 16°F | 26.0°F | 2.89 | 18.9 | 13 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 49°F | 29°F | 38.9°F | 3.39 | 7.8 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 62°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 3.93 | 0.5 | 15 | <1 | 8 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 70°F | 49°F | 59.8°F | 4.81 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | 1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 74°F | 54°F | 64.1°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 73°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 3.96 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 66°F | 45°F | 55.7°F | 3.90 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 52°F | 35°F | 43.8°F | 4.23 | 2.6 | 15 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 40°F | 25°F | 32.2°F | 3.40 | 9.6 | 15 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 14°F | 21.0°F | 3.50 | 22.7 | 19 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 31°F | 40.6°F | 43.76 | 104.1 | 179 | 1 | 184 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −14°C | −9.5°C | 79 mm | 53 cm |
| February | −3°C | −13°C | −7.9°C | 58 mm | 53 cm |
| March | 2°C | −9°C | −3.3°C | 73 mm | 48 cm |
| April | 10°C | −2°C | 3.8°C | 86 mm | 20 cm |
| May | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 100 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 21°C | 10°C | 15.4°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11°C | 2°C | 6.6°C | 107 mm | 7 cm |
| November | 4°C | −4°C | 0.1°C | 86 mm | 24 cm |
| December | −2°C | −10°C | −6.1°C | 89 mm | 58 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00304555; 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 Lake Placid?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00304555.
When is the last frost in Lake Placid?
In Lake Placid, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 27 in half of years and after June 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 22 in half of years and before September 8 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 271 year in 10 after June 7; 9 in 10 after May 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 221 year in 10 before September 8; 9 in 10 before October 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 118 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 143 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before October 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lake Placid in zone 4a in ZIP code 12977, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lake Placid's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00304555; 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 Lake Placid?
In a normal year in Lake Placid, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 184 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 179 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 184a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 68high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 179a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 42a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 97°F, on July 19, 1953; the lowest is −39°F, on December 30, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 56.17 in; the snowiest season is 1965–66, with 186.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00304555; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00304555. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lake Placid?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lake Placid, 3.5 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (75%) and December the cloudiest (54%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 1.5 |
| February | 62% | 2.3 |
| March | 65% | 3.4 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 67% | 5.2 |
| June | 69% | 5.6 |
| July | 74% | 5.7 |
| August | 75% | 5.1 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 62% | 2.4 |
| November | 60% | 1.6 |
| December | 54% | 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 Lake Placid need?
A normal year in Lake Placid brings 8,982 heating degree days, 67% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 136 cooling degree days, 85% 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 1,523 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,553 | 0 |
| February | 1,324 | 0 |
| March | 1,209 | 0 |
| April | 785 | 1 |
| May | 436 | 6 |
| June | 182 | 27 |
| July | 81 | 55 |
| August | 114 | 35 |
| September | 292 | 13 |
| October | 659 | 0 |
| November | 984 | 0 |
| December | 1,362 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,982 | 136 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00304555. 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 Lake Placid been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 42.2°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 40.6°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41.6°F | +1.0°F | 44.95 | 131.9 |
| 2023 | 42.2°F | +1.6°F | 53.60 | 115.4 |
Over 62 complete years from 1910 to 2023, 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 USC00304555; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lake Placid's climate compare?
Lake Placid is warmer than 1 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 65. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.6°F is warmer than 7%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lake Placid 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 Lake Placid share this climate record?
Wilmington has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Wilmington, NY979 people · 10 mi NE
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 Lake Placid's climate
What is the coldest month in Lake Placid?
January, with a normal high of 23°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (74°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Lake Placid?
Yes: 104 inches in a normal year, falling on 57 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (22.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lake Placid?
June, with 4.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.29 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lake Placid in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lake Placid in zone 4a in ZIP code 12977, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lake Placid's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Lake Placid?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 27; in one year in ten it comes after June 7. Waiting until June 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lake Placid in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ray Brook, NY6 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Saranac Lake, NY12 miles from this station, 39.7°F a year
- Tupper Lake, NY23 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Newcomb, NY26 miles from this station, 40.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made