Lexington Bluegrass, KY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Lexington Bluegrass's primary NOAA station, LEXINGTON BLUEGRASS AP.
The climate verdict for Lexington Bluegrass
Water is the standout signal in Lexington Bluegrass, Kentucky: 49.8 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 56°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.8"
- annual precipitation · 15" snow
- 198 days
- frost-free growing season
Lexington Bluegrass: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00093820 · Lexington Bluegrass, KY 56°F mean · 49.8" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,460
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ English
- PRCP-MID 49.8"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,432 HDD
- STN-1 USW00093820
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: English, IN (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every KY station list.
- Lexington Blueg… (this station) 56°F
- Cold Rockville, MD 56°F
- Hot Huntington Swg…, WV 56°F
- Near English, IN 56°F
- Near Gentryville, MO 56°F
Climate Living Index · Lexington Bluegrass
Lexington Bluegrass: 61/100 · grade C
Lexington Bluegrass publishes all six Living Index dimensions from NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals.
PlainClimate-derived for Lexington Bluegrass, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 91 calendar days | 79/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 56.3°F · 11.2° from 67.5°F | 64/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 198 days/year | 63/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 14.5 inches/year | 57/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 49.8 in · 14.8 from 35 in | 48/100 · D |
| Summer moisture balance | 64.4°F mean dew point | 38/100 · F |
Lexington Bluegrass · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lexington Bluegrass is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 33.9°F and warmest-month mean 76.7°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 76.7°F
- Coldest month
- 33.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Lexington Bluegrass sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lexington Bluegrass's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 65th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- Lexington Bluegrass's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 48th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lexington Bluegrass compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lexington Bluegrass's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Lexington Bluegrass's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 135 complete annual observations from 1889 to 2025, LEXINGTON BLUEGRASS AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.07°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Lexington Bluegrass primary station fitted change +0.07 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F (6°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.4" | 4.7" | 22.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 47°F (8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 3.6" | 4.5" | 19.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (13°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 4.5" | 2.8" | 13.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 67°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 4.4" | 0.2" | 2.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 76°F (24°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 5.4" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| June | 84°F (29°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 5.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.1 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| September | 80°F (27°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| October | 69°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| November | 56°F (13°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 3.4" | 0.4" | 11.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 46°F (8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 4.2" | 1.9" | 19.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 8, short of 90°F on every date, while 91 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 25°F near January 19.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 1, then returns to freezing around December 2, covering 91 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is April 25, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 15 at 26%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 134 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 12 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lexington Bluegrass.
Where Lexington Bluegrass Stands Nationally
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 50 inches.
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Lexington Bluegrass earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 4.7"
12.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
11.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
12.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
12.8 days with precipitation
12.6 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
10.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
12.6 days with precipitation
Lexington Bluegrass spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lexington Bluegrass has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 42.8°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 5.4" and November 3.4". The three wettest months together take 31% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Lexington Bluegrass, it arrives in quantity
49.8" of precipitation falls across only about 134 wet days here, averaging 0.37 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 134 a year, 37% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.37 inches
- Most wet days
- March, about 13
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Lexington Bluegrass
Lexington Bluegrass averages 14.5 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 13 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 14.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 13 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 3% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 28
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 13
50% probability date
Growing Season
198 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,432
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,289
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 9.1 | 39% | 44% |
| February | 66% | 9.6 | 38% | 45% |
| March | 62% | 9.4 | 47% | 32% |
| April | 66% | 8.3 | 48% | 26% |
| May | 71% | 7.1 | 50% | 19% |
| June | 71% | 6.3 | 53% | 11% |
| July | 72% | 5.6 | 56% | 11% |
| August | 71% | 6.1 | 58% | 13% |
| September | 70% | 6.9 | 62% | 17% |
| October | 68% | 7.8 | 52% | 32% |
| November | 71% | 8.8 | 43% | 40% |
| December | 74% | 9.1 | 35% | 51% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KY closest to Lexington Bluegrass on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (56°F here).
- Benton, IL 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Billings, MO 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Charlottesville, VA 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Dennard, AR 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Easton, WA 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Princeton, IN 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Clayton, NC 49.9" · 0.1" off
- Crescent City, FL 49.9" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Lexington Bluegrass
heating led · wet · mid swing
Lexington Bluegrass's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,432 annual heating degree days against 1,289 for cooling. Its 42.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Lexington Bluegrass's frost-free season lasts about 198 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Lexington Bluegrass coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 34°F (1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Lexington Bluegrass typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Lexington Bluegrass snow peak
January
Lexington Bluegrass averages 14.5 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Lexington Bluegrass's climate
How much snow does Lexington Bluegrass get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lexington Bluegrass? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lexington Bluegrass's primary station: LEXINGTON BLUEGRASS AP (USW00093820). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Lexington Bluegrass; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Lexington Bluegrass comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.