Lancaster, New Hampshire climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lancaster's normal year runs from 3°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 39.8 inches of precipitation and 76 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.5°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 26°C, 1,011 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLancaster
- Station IDUSC00274556
- Location44.50°N 71.58°W
- Elevation860 ft (262 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population (town)3,212
- Census place2,264
On October 22, the normal high in Lancaster is 54°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 46%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lancaster.
- Jan 25° 3°
- Feb 29° 4°
- Mar 38° 14°
- Apr 52° 28°
- May 66° 39°
- Jun 75° 49°
- Jul 80° 54°
- Aug 78° 53°
- Sep 70° 45°
- Oct 57° 35°
- Nov 43° 25°
- Dec 31° 13°
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 Lancaster each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 3°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.37 in), the least in February (2.03 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 3°F | 14.4°F | 2.43 | 17.9 | 14 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 4°F | 16.2°F | 2.03 | 17.8 | 11 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 38°F | 14°F | 26.1°F | 2.21 | 11.6 | 12 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 28°F | 40.2°F | 3.15 | 4.0 | 13 | <1 | 22 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 39°F | 52.8°F | 3.76 | 0.1 | 14 | <1 | 7 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 75°F | 49°F | 62.1°F | 4.37 | 0.0 | 15 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 80°F | 54°F | 67.0°F | 4.20 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 78°F | 53°F | 65.3°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 70°F | 45°F | 57.7°F | 3.59 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 35°F | 45.5°F | 4.18 | 0.6 | 14 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 25°F | 33.9°F | 2.85 | 4.6 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 31°F | 13°F | 22.0°F | 2.90 | 19.5 | 16 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 30°F | 41.9°F | 39.80 | 76.1 | 159 | 3 | 188 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −9.8°C | 62 mm | 45 cm |
| February | −2°C | −16°C | −8.8°C | 52 mm | 45 cm |
| March | 3°C | −10°C | −3.3°C | 56 mm | 29 cm |
| April | 11°C | −2°C | 4.6°C | 80 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 19°C | 4°C | 11.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 12°C | 19.4°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 11°C | 18.5°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 7°C | 14.3°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 1°C | 7.5°C | 106 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 1.1°C | 72 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 0°C | −11°C | −5.6°C | 74 mm | 50 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00274556; 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 Lancaster?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00274556.
When is the last frost in Lancaster?
In Lancaster, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 18 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 in half of years and before September 16 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 181 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 16; 9 in 10 before October 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 132 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 157 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lancaster in zone 4b in ZIP code 03584, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lancaster's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (28 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Hampshire · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00274556; 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 Lancaster?
In a normal year in Lancaster, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 188 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 159 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 188a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 72high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 159a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 25a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 95°F, on June 19, 1994; the lowest is −40°F, on February 12, 1979.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2005, with 52.64 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 116.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00274556; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00274556. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lancaster?
Over a year 66% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lancaster, 3.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (73%) and December the cloudiest (54%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 1.4 |
| February | 62% | 2.3 |
| March | 65% | 3.5 |
| April | 64% | 4.4 |
| May | 64% | 5.1 |
| June | 67% | 5.5 |
| July | 71% | 5.6 |
| August | 73% | 5.0 |
| September | 73% | 4.0 |
| October | 62% | 2.4 |
| November | 59% | 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 Lancaster need?
A normal year in Lancaster brings 8,619 heating degree days, 60% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 249 cooling degree days, 73% 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 1,840 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,570 | 0 |
| February | 1,366 | 0 |
| March | 1,206 | 0 |
| April | 745 | 1 |
| May | 385 | 7 |
| June | 131 | 46 |
| July | 41 | 101 |
| August | 64 | 72 |
| September | 241 | 22 |
| October | 605 | 1 |
| November | 933 | 0 |
| December | 1,331 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,619 | 249 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00274556. 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 Lancaster been warmer than normal lately?
Over 43 complete years from 1957 to 2018, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lancaster's climate compare?
Lancaster is warmer than 2 of the other 27 places with their own NOAA record in New Hampshire, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.9°F is warmer than 9%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lancaster 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 Lancaster share this climate record?
Lunenburg 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.
- Lunenburg, VT1,262 people · 6 mi SW
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 Lancaster's climate
What is the coldest month in Lancaster?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 3°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Lancaster?
Yes: 76 inches in a normal year, falling on 51 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (19.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lancaster?
June, with 4.37 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.03 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lancaster in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lancaster in zone 4b in ZIP code 03584, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lancaster's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Lancaster?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 18; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Hampshire climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Jefferson, NH7 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Whitefield, NH9 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- York Pond, NH12 miles from this station, 40.4°F a year
- North Stratford, NH13 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made