Lancaster, Ohio climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lancaster's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 40.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,024 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLancaster Fairfield Airport
- Station IDUSW00053844
- Location39.76°N 82.66°W
- Elevation869 ft (265 m)
- Population41,671
On October 23, the normal high in Lancaster is 63°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 37%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lancaster.
- Jan 38° 20°
- Feb 42° 22°
- Mar 52° 31°
- Apr 65° 40°
- May 74° 50°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 78° 52°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 53° 32°
- Dec 42° 26°
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 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.39 in), the least in February (2.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 20°F | 29.0°F | 2.88 | 13 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 22°F | 31.9°F | 2.28 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 31°F | 41.1°F | 3.57 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 40°F | 52.2°F | 3.94 | 14 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 50°F | 62.2°F | 3.79 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.4°F | 4.39 | 13 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.3°F | 4.39 | 14 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.5°F | 3.11 | 14 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 52°F | 64.8°F | 3.21 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.3°F | 2.87 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 32°F | 42.3°F | 2.99 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 42°F | 26°F | 34.0°F | 2.88 | 12 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 41°F | 52.2°F | 40.30 | 153 | 16 | 120 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −6°C | −1.7°C | 73 mm |
| February | 5°C | −5°C | −0.1°C | 58 mm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 91 mm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.2°C | 100 mm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 96 mm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 112 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 112 mm |
| August | 29°C | 15°C | 21.9°C | 79 mm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 18.2°C | 82 mm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 73 mm |
| November | 12°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 76 mm |
| December | 6°C | −3°C | 1.1°C | 73 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Circleville (19 miles away), gets 15 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053844; 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, September and October. Of those, October 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 USW00053844.
When is the last frost in Lancaster?
In Lancaster, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 13 in half of years and before October 1 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 261 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 131 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 169 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 193 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lancaster in zone 6a in ZIP code 43130. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lancaster's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Ohio · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053844; 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, 16 days a year reach 90°F, 120 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 153 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 120a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 153a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1996) is 100°F, on July 7, 2012; the lowest is −21°F, on January 27, 2003.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 53.16 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053844; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00053844. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lancaster?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lancaster, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 57% | 1.7 |
| February | 60% | 2.5 |
| March | 64% | 3.6 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.1 |
| July | 78% | 5.9 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.5 |
| October | 71% | 3.1 |
| November | 69% | 2.2 |
| December | 56% | 1.5 |
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 much heating and cooling does Lancaster need?
A normal year in Lancaster brings 5,472 heating degree days, 2% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 824 cooling degree days, 9% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,252 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,116 | 0 |
| February | 926 | 0 |
| March | 744 | 1 |
| April | 393 | 9 |
| May | 154 | 67 |
| June | 20 | 182 |
| July | 3 | 260 |
| August | 8 | 208 |
| September | 91 | 85 |
| October | 376 | 11 |
| November | 681 | 0 |
| December | 961 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,472 | 824 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053844. 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?
2025 averaged 52.5°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.8°F | +1.6°F | 34.30 |
| 2022 | 52.3°F | +0.1°F | 39.56 |
| 2023 | 54.3°F | +2.1°F | 30.97 |
| 2024 | 55.5°F | +3.3°F | 28.61 |
| 2025 | 52.5°F | +0.3°F | 38.89 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053844. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lancaster's climate compare?
Lancaster is warmer than 62 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Ohio, and wetter than 31. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.2°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lancaster is Dfa: continental, 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 Lancaster share this climate record?
8 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.
- Baltimore, OH3,089 people · 7 mi NE
- Lithopolis, OH2,859 people · 9 mi NW
- Pleasantville, OH954 people · 8 mi NE
- Amanda, OH678 people · 9 mi SW
- Thurston, OH610 people · 8 mi NE
- Carroll, OH501 people · 4 mi NW
- Hamburg, OH447 people · 7 mi S
- West Rushville, OH164 people · 11 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Lancaster's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Lancaster. This page uses Lancaster Fairfield Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster station USC00334403 | 4 mi SE | 827 ft | 53.2°F | 22°F | 85°F | 40.2 | – | April 22 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Lancaster's climate
What is the coldest month in Lancaster?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Lancaster?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lancaster's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Circleville (19 miles away), records 15 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lancaster?
June, with 4.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lancaster in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lancaster in zone 6a in ZIP code 43130. By the same method at Lancaster's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Lancaster?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Ohio climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Circleville, OH19 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Columbus, OH20 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Logan, OH21 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Newark, OH21 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made