Lewes, Delaware climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lewes's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 47.3 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.7°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,201 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLewes
- Station IDUSC00075320
- Location38.78°N 75.16°W
- Elevation10 ft (3 m)
- Population3,702
On October 23, the normal high in Lewes is 67°F and the normal low 50°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 Lewes.
- Jan 46° 30°
- Feb 48° 32°
- Mar 55° 38°
- Apr 66° 46°
- May 75° 56°
- Jun 83° 66°
- Jul 88° 71°
- Aug 86° 69°
- Sep 80° 64°
- Oct 69° 52°
- Nov 59° 42°
- Dec 50° 35°
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 Lewes each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.95 in), the least in February (3.17 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 | 46°F | 30°F | 38.2°F | 3.38 | 2.0 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 48°F | 32°F | 40.0°F | 3.17 | 6.5 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 38°F | 46.3°F | 4.21 | 1.0 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 46°F | 56.3°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 56°F | 65.3°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 66°F | 74.5°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 88°F | 71°F | 79.2°F | 4.95 | 0.0 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 69°F | 77.3°F | 4.31 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 64°F | 71.7°F | 4.49 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 52°F | 60.9°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 42°F | 50.4°F | 3.59 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 50°F | 35°F | 42.4°F | 4.17 | 1.0 | 12 | <1 | 13 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 50°F | 58.5°F | 47.28 | 10.5 | 124 | 29 | 59 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −1°C | 3.4°C | 86 mm | 5 cm |
| February | 9°C | 0°C | 4.4°C | 81 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 13°C | 3°C | 7.9°C | 107 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 19°C | 8°C | 13.5°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 19°C | 23.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 21°C | 25.2°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 18°C | 22.1°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 11°C | 16.1°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 6°C | 10.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | 2°C | 5.8°C | 106 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00075320; 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 Lewes?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00075320.
When is the last frost in Lewes?
In Lewes, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 14 in half of years and before November 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
- March 291 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after March 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 141 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 231 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 256 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 16 in half of springs and before November 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lewes in zone 7b in ZIP code 19958, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lewes's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (20 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 Delaware · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00075320; 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 Lewes?
In a normal year in Lewes, 29 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 59 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 59a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1945) is 102°F, on June 21, 1997; the lowest is −11°F, on January 17, 1982.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1948, with 69.36 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 47.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00075320; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00075320. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lewes?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lewes, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and January the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.2 |
| February | 71% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 75% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.3 |
| November | 75% | 2.5 |
| December | 71% | 1.9 |
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 Lewes need?
A normal year in Lewes brings 3,823 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,506 cooling degree days, 66% 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 4,422 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 831 | 0 |
| February | 700 | 0 |
| March | 581 | 3 |
| April | 287 | 26 |
| May | 94 | 103 |
| June | 7 | 294 |
| July | 0 | 439 |
| August | 0 | 383 |
| September | 13 | 213 |
| October | 170 | 42 |
| November | 441 | 4 |
| December | 699 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,823 | 1,506 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00075320. 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 Lewes been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.7°F, 1.8°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 58.5°F. 0 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.1°F | −0.4°F | 41.27 | – |
| 2022 | 57.0°F | −1.5°F | 38.24 | – |
| 2023 | 58.5°F | at normal | 45.74 | – |
| 2024 | 58.5°F | at normal | 35.83 | – |
| 2025 | 56.7°F | −1.8°F | 43.12 | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00075320. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lewes's climate compare?
Lewes is warmer than 5 of the other 5 places with their own NOAA record in Delaware, and wetter than 4. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.5°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lewes 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 Lewes 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.
- Long Neck, DE2,372 people · 11 mi S
- Rehoboth Beach, DE1,257 people · 6 mi SE
- Dewey Beach, DE405 people · 8 mi SE
- Henlopen Acres, DE158 people · 6 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.
Questions about Lewes's climate
What is the coldest month in Lewes?
January, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Lewes?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lewes?
July, with 4.95 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.17 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lewes in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lewes in zone 7b in ZIP code 19958, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lewes's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Lewes?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lewes in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Delaware climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Georgetown, DE12 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- Cape May, NJ17 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Greenwood, DE22 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Dover, DE31 miles from this station, 57.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made