Lenoir, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lenoir's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 49.7 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.4°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,261 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLenoir
- Station IDUSC00314938
- Location35.91°N 81.54°W
- Elevation1,155 ft (352 m)
- Population18,280
On October 22, the normal high in Lenoir is 69°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lenoir.
- Jan 49° 27°
- Feb 53° 30°
- Mar 60° 36°
- Apr 70° 45°
- May 77° 54°
- Jun 84° 63°
- Jul 88° 67°
- Aug 86° 65°
- Sep 80° 59°
- Oct 71° 46°
- Nov 61° 36°
- Dec 52° 30°
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 Lenoir each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.73 in), the least in February (3.33 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 | 49°F | 27°F | 38.2°F | 3.93 | 1.3 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 30°F | 41.3°F | 3.33 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 36°F | 48.2°F | 4.29 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 45°F | 57.5°F | 4.44 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 54°F | 65.6°F | 4.38 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 63°F | 73.5°F | 4.73 | 0.0 | 12 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 88°F | 67°F | 77.1°F | 4.60 | 0.0 | 13 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 86°F | 65°F | 75.7°F | 4.48 | 0.0 | 12 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 80°F | 59°F | 69.6°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 46°F | 58.7°F | 3.63 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 36°F | 48.3°F | 3.33 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 30°F | 40.8°F | 4.27 | 2.3 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 46°F | 57.9°F | 49.66 | 4.1 | 123 | 36 | 91 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −3°C | 3.4°C | 100 mm | 3 cm |
| February | 12°C | −1°C | 5.2°C | 85 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.0°C | 109 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 9.1°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | −1°C | 4.9°C | 108 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314938; 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 Lenoir?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00314938.
When is the last frost in Lenoir?
In Lenoir, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 18 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 71 year in 10 after April 28; 9 in 10 after March 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 207 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 230 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 25 in half of springs and before November 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lenoir in zone 8a in ZIP code 28638, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lenoir's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (22 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 North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00314938; 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 Lenoir?
In a normal year in Lenoir, 36 days a year reach 90°F, 91 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 36a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 91a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 106°F, on July 21, 1926; the lowest is −18°F, on December 30, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2020, with 70.31 in; the snowiest season is 1986–87, with 29.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00314938; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00314938. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lenoir?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lenoir, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 72% | 3.3 |
| March | 73% | 4.3 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 76% | 6.0 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 78% | 3.0 |
| December | 72% | 2.3 |
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 Lenoir need?
A normal year in Lenoir brings 3,851 heating degree days, 28% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,289 cooling degree days, 42% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,160 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 831 | 0 |
| February | 664 | 0 |
| March | 523 | 2 |
| April | 245 | 22 |
| May | 80 | 100 |
| June | 7 | 262 |
| July | 0 | 375 |
| August | 1 | 332 |
| September | 29 | 169 |
| October | 221 | 25 |
| November | 502 | 1 |
| December | 749 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,851 | 1,289 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00314938. 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 Lenoir been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 58.6°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.9°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.7°F | +0.8°F | 39.47 | 5.6 |
| 2022 | 58.4°F | +0.5°F | 52.17 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 59.7°F | +1.8°F | 52.02 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 60.1°F | +2.3°F | 61.22 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 58.6°F | +0.7°F | 44.29 | 2.0 |
Over 96 complete years from 1872 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.7°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00314938; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lenoir's climate compare?
Lenoir is warmer than 36 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 57. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.9°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lenoir is Cfa: temperate, 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 Lenoir share this climate record?
4 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.
- Hudson, NC3,771 people · 5 mi SE
- Gamewell, NC3,699 people · 5 mi SW
- Cajah's Mountain, NC2,699 people · 4 mi S
- Cedar Rock, NC299 people · 5 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 Lenoir's climate
What is the coldest month in Lenoir?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Lenoir?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (2.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lenoir?
June, with 4.73 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lenoir in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lenoir in zone 8a in ZIP code 28638, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lenoir's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Lenoir?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 28. Waiting until April 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lenoir in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hickory, NC15 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Morganton, NC15 miles from this station, 57.9°F a year
- Blowing Rock, NC19 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Taylorsville, NC21 miles from this station, 58.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made