Lancaster, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lancaster's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 42.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.8°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,068 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLancaster Airport
- Station IDUSW00054737
- Location40.12°N 76.29°W
- Elevation403 ft (123 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population58,441
On October 22, the normal high in Lancaster is 64°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lancaster.
- Jan 40° 22°
- Feb 42° 23°
- Mar 52° 31°
- Apr 64° 40°
- May 74° 50°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 85° 63°
- Sep 78° 56°
- Oct 66° 44°
- Nov 54° 34°
- Dec 44° 27°
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 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.78 in), the least in February (2.20 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 22°F | 30.6°F | 2.59 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 23°F | 32.8°F | 2.20 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 31°F | 41.1°F | 3.33 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 40°F | 51.8°F | 3.34 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 50°F | 62.0°F | 3.44 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 4.78 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.4°F | 4.20 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 63°F | 73.5°F | 3.52 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 56°F | 66.6°F | 4.69 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 44°F | 54.9°F | 3.78 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 34°F | 44.2°F | 3.06 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 27°F | 35.4°F | 3.13 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 43°F | 53.3°F | 42.06 | 133 | 18 | 109 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −6°C | −0.8°C | 66 mm |
| February | 6°C | −5°C | 0.4°C | 56 mm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 85 mm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.0°C | 85 mm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 87 mm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 121 mm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 107 mm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 89 mm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 119 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.7°C | 96 mm |
| November | 12°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 78 mm |
| December | 7°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 80 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Lancaster's own co-op station Lancaster 2 mi NE Filter Plant does: 21 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00054737; 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, August, September and October. 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 USW00054737.
When is the last frost in Lancaster?
In Lancaster, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 18 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 10 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 181 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 10; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 186 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 214 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 4 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lancaster in zone 7a in ZIP code 17602. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lancaster's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00054737; 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, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 109 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 109a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1999) is 103°F, on July 22, 2011; the lowest is −7°F, on January 21, 2026.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 64.15 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00054737; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00054737. 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. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (60%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 416th (with 11 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 1.8 |
| February | 66% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.3 |
| June | 75% | 6.0 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 74% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.9 |
| November | 69% | 2.1 |
| December | 60% | 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 5,215 heating degree days, 3% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 985 cooling degree days, 8% more 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 3,426 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,065 | 0 |
| February | 903 | 0 |
| March | 741 | 0 |
| April | 405 | 8 |
| May | 150 | 58 |
| June | 17 | 203 |
| July | 1 | 323 |
| August | 3 | 268 |
| September | 61 | 110 |
| October | 327 | 14 |
| November | 626 | 0 |
| December | 918 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,215 | 985 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00054737. 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 53.5°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.3°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.7°F | +2.4°F | 45.11 |
| 2022 | 55.0°F | +1.7°F | 37.41 |
| 2024 | 56.0°F | +2.7°F | 36.02 |
| 2025 | 53.5°F | +0.2°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00054737. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lancaster's climate compare?
Lancaster is warmer than 97 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 28. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.3°F is warmer than 55%.
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?
15 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.
- Ephrata, PA13,719 people · 7 mi NE
- Lititz, PA9,733 people · 2 mi N
- Leola, PA8,107 people · 6 mi E
- East Petersburg, PA4,625 people · 3 mi W
- Akron, PA4,123 people · 5 mi NE
- Denver, PA3,760 people · 11 mi NE
- Brownstown, PA3,482 people · 4 mi E
- Rothsville, PA2,889 people · 3 mi NE
- Clay, PA1,576 people · 7 mi NE
- Brickerville, PA1,302 people · 7 mi N
- Schoeneck, PA957 people · 11 mi NE
- Stevens, PA909 people · 9 mi NE
- Hopeland, PA746 people · 8 mi N
- Witmer, PA322 people · 7 mi SE
- Smoketown, PA262 people · 8 mi SE
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 Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster 2 mi NE Filter Plant USC00364763 | 2 mi E | 270 ft | 53.7°F | 22°F | 87°F | 44.1 | 21 | April 19 |
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 40°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Lancaster?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lancaster's NOAA station; Lancaster's own co-op station Lancaster 2 mi NE Filter Plant records 21 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lancaster?
June, with 4.78 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.20 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lancaster in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lancaster in zone 7a in ZIP code 17602. By the same method at Lancaster's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Lancaster?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 18; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lancaster in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Landisville, PA7 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- New Holland, PA12 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Safe Harbor Dam, PA14 miles from this station, 54.6°F a year
- Lebanon, PA17 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made