Lexington, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lexington's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 54.8 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.1°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,391 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLexington
- Station IDUSC00405210
- Location35.65°N 88.39°W
- Elevation540 ft (165 m)
- Population8,037
On October 24, the normal high in Lexington is 70°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lexington.
- Jan 48° 27°
- Feb 53° 31°
- Mar 62° 38°
- Apr 72° 46°
- May 79° 56°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 89° 68°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 84° 60°
- Oct 73° 47°
- Nov 61° 37°
- Dec 51° 31°
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 Lexington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.07 in), the least in August (3.36 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 27°F | 37.6°F | 4.51 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 31°F | 42.0°F | 4.73 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 38°F | 49.8°F | 4.65 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 5.24 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 56°F | 67.7°F | 6.07 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.5°F | 4.28 | 0.0 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 68°F | 78.8°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 8 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 78.1°F | 3.36 | 0.0 | 6 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 6 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 47°F | 60.2°F | 4.23 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 37°F | 48.9°F | 4.21 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 31°F | 41.0°F | 5.36 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 48°F | 59.2°F | 54.75 | 1.5 | 105 | 52 | 77 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −3°C | 3.1°C | 115 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 120 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 17°C | 3°C | 9.9°C | 118 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 26.0°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.6°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 22.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00405210; 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 Lexington?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00405210.
When is the last frost in Lexington?
In Lexington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 30 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 51 year in 10 after April 21; 9 in 10 after March 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 301 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 230 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 24 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lexington in zone 7b in ZIP code 38351, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lexington's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00405210; 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 Lexington?
In a normal year in Lexington, 52 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 77 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 105 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 52a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 77a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 105a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1962) is 106°F, on August 16, 2007; the lowest is −17°F, on January 24, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1979, with 74.30 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 17.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00405210; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00405210. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lexington?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lexington, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.4 |
| February | 64% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 74% | 2.8 |
| December | 66% | 2.1 |
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 Lexington need?
A normal year in Lexington brings 3,694 heating degree days, 31% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,604 cooling degree days, 77% 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 4,667 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 849 | 0 |
| February | 646 | 1 |
| March | 478 | 5 |
| April | 217 | 35 |
| May | 57 | 139 |
| June | 2 | 317 |
| July | 0 | 428 |
| August | 0 | 408 |
| September | 20 | 222 |
| October | 194 | 45 |
| November | 486 | 3 |
| December | 744 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,694 | 1,604 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00405210. 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 Lexington been warmer than normal lately?
Over 31 complete years from 1963 to 2016, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lexington's climate compare?
Lexington is warmer than 82 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 39. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.2°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lexington 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 Lexington share this climate record?
5 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.
- Chesterfield, TN650 people · 7 mi E
- Parker's Crossroads, TN284 people · 10 mi N
- Wildersville, TN138 people · 9 mi N
- Luray, TN132 people · 11 mi W
- Huron, TN69 people · 9 mi SW
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 Lexington's climate
What is the coldest month in Lexington?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Lexington?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lexington?
May, with 6.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.36 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lexington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lexington in zone 7b in ZIP code 38351, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lexington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Lexington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 21. Waiting until April 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Parsons, TN16 miles from this station, 60.2°F a year
- Decaturville, TN16 miles from this station, 58.9°F a year
- Mousetail Landing State Park, TN22 miles from this station, 59.2°F a year
- Henderson, TN24 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made