Leitchfield, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Leitchfield's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 49.8 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,265 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLeitchfield (2 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00154703
- Location37.51°N 86.29°W
- Elevation620 ft (189 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population6,895
On October 23, the normal high in Leitchfield is 66°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Leitchfield.
- Jan 42° 21°
- Feb 47° 22°
- Mar 56° 31°
- Apr 67° 41°
- May 75° 51°
- Jun 83° 60°
- Jul 86° 64°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 80° 54°
- Oct 69° 42°
- Nov 56° 32°
- Dec 46° 24°
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 Leitchfield each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.86 in), the least in September (3.27 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 21°F | 31.5°F | 3.51 | 4.0 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 22°F | 34.4°F | 4.09 | 2.1 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 56°F | 31°F | 43.2°F | 4.73 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 41°F | 54.0°F | 4.63 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 51°F | 63.1°F | 4.86 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 4.34 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 64°F | 74.5°F | 4.23 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 73.2°F | 4.08 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 54°F | 67.1°F | 3.27 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 42°F | 55.1°F | 4.00 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 32°F | 43.8°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 24°F | 34.7°F | 4.69 | 2.4 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 49.81 | 9.4 | 117 | 23 | 110 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 89 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 8°C | −5°C | 1.3°C | 104 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 13°C | −1°C | 6.2°C | 120 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 20°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.9°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 12°C | 19.5°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.8°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 8°C | −5°C | 1.5°C | 119 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00154703; 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 Leitchfield?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00154703.
When is the last frost in Leitchfield?
In Leitchfield, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 15 in half of years and before October 4 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 11; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 151 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 193 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Leitchfield in zone 7a in ZIP code 42754, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Leitchfield's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 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 Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00154703; 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 Leitchfield?
In a normal year in Leitchfield, 23 days a year reach 90°F, 110 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 110a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 108°F, on July 28, 1930; the lowest is −27°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1950, with 73.26 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 36.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00154703; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00154703. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Leitchfield?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Leitchfield, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 2.0 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 62% | 1.8 |
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 Leitchfield need?
A normal year in Leitchfield brings 5,010 heating degree days, 7% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 969 cooling degree days, 7% 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 3,561 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,038 | 0 |
| February | 857 | 0 |
| March | 675 | 1 |
| April | 342 | 12 |
| May | 124 | 67 |
| June | 14 | 200 |
| July | 2 | 296 |
| August | 4 | 258 |
| September | 58 | 121 |
| October | 318 | 13 |
| November | 637 | 1 |
| December | 941 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,010 | 969 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00154703. 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.
How does Leitchfield's climate compare?
Leitchfield is warmer than 3 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 20. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.8°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Leitchfield 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 Leitchfield share this climate record?
3 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.
- Clarkson, KY967 people · 4 mi E
- Caneyville, KY536 people · 13 mi SW
- Big Clifty, KY302 people · 8 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.
Questions about Leitchfield's climate
What is the coldest month in Leitchfield?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Leitchfield?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Leitchfield?
May, with 4.86 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.27 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Leitchfield in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Leitchfield in zone 7a in ZIP code 42754, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Leitchfield's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Leitchfield?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- McDaniels, KY12 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Rough River Lake, KY14 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Nolin River Lake, KY16 miles from this station, 57.0°F a year
- Millerstown (4 mi E), KY16 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made