Lincoln, Maine climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lincoln's normal year runs from 3°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 44.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.2°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 26°C, 1,124 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLincoln Sanitary District/Water Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00174683
- Location45.38°N 68.51°W
- Elevation190 ft (58 m)
- Population (town)4,945
- Census place2,576
On October 14, the normal high in Lincoln is 57°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lincoln.
- Jan 26° 3°
- Feb 29° 5°
- Mar 38° 17°
- Apr 52° 30°
- May 66° 43°
- Jun 74° 53°
- Jul 79° 59°
- Aug 78° 57°
- Sep 70° 48°
- Oct 57° 37°
- Nov 44° 27°
- Dec 32° 15°
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 Lincoln each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 3°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.73 in), the least in February (2.38 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 3°F | 14.5°F | 3.46 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 5°F | 16.9°F | 2.38 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 38°F | 17°F | 27.6°F | 3.52 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 30°F | 41.0°F | 3.58 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 43°F | 54.3°F | 3.72 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 74°F | 53°F | 63.2°F | 4.07 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 79°F | 59°F | 69.0°F | 3.37 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 78°F | 57°F | 67.1°F | 3.61 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 70°F | 48°F | 58.5°F | 3.43 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 37°F | 46.6°F | 4.73 | 12 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 27°F | 35.4°F | 4.17 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 32°F | 15°F | 23.1°F | 4.23 | 12 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 33°F | 43.1°F | 44.27 | 133 | 4 | 167 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −9.7°C | 88 mm |
| February | −2°C | −15°C | −8.4°C | 60 mm |
| March | 3°C | −8°C | −2.4°C | 89 mm |
| April | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 91 mm |
| May | 19°C | 6°C | 12.4°C | 94 mm |
| June | 23°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 103 mm |
| July | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 86 mm |
| August | 25°C | 14°C | 19.5°C | 92 mm |
| September | 21°C | 9°C | 14.7°C | 87 mm |
| October | 14°C | 3°C | 8.1°C | 120 mm |
| November | 6°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 106 mm |
| December | 0°C | −10°C | −4.9°C | 107 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Millinocket station (21 miles away), gets 86 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00174683; 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 Lincoln?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. 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 USC00174683.
When is the last frost in Lincoln?
In Lincoln, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 6 in half of years and before September 24 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
- May 41 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lincoln in zone 5a in ZIP code 04457, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lincoln's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°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 Maine · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00174683; 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 Lincoln?
In a normal year in Lincoln, 4 days a year reach 90°F, 167 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 167a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 66high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00174683.
How sunny is Lincoln?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lincoln, 3.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (74%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.5 |
| February | 66% | 2.4 |
| March | 69% | 3.6 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 65% | 5.1 |
| June | 67% | 5.5 |
| July | 72% | 5.6 |
| August | 73% | 5.0 |
| September | 74% | 4.0 |
| October | 65% | 2.5 |
| November | 61% | 1.5 |
| December | 59% | 1.1 |
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 Lincoln need?
A normal year in Lincoln brings 8,272 heating degree days, 54% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 337 cooling degree days, 63% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,042 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,565 | 0 |
| February | 1,345 | 0 |
| March | 1,159 | 0 |
| April | 719 | 0 |
| May | 345 | 12 |
| June | 106 | 54 |
| July | 19 | 144 |
| August | 38 | 103 |
| September | 217 | 24 |
| October | 571 | 1 |
| November | 890 | 0 |
| December | 1,297 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,272 | 337 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00174683. 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 Lincoln been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 43.8°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.6°F | +2.5°F | 38.42 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | +1.3°F | 50.32 |
| 2023 | 45.5°F | +2.4°F | 49.31 |
| 2024 | 46.3°F | +3.2°F | 44.75 |
| 2025 | 43.8°F | +0.7°F | 37.97 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00174683. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lincoln's climate compare?
Lincoln is warmer than 14 of the other 41 places with their own NOAA record in Maine, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.1°F is warmer than 12%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lincoln is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Lincoln share this climate record?
2 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.
- Howland, ME1,164 people · 10 mi SW
- Mattawamkeag, ME604 people · 12 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 Lincoln's climate
What is the coldest month in Lincoln?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 3°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Lincoln?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lincoln's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Millinocket station (21 miles away), records 86 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lincoln?
October, with 4.73 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.38 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lincoln in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lincoln in zone 5a in ZIP code 04457, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lincoln's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Lincoln?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Maine climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Millinocket, ME21 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Barnard, ME32 miles from this station, 42.4°F a year
- Old, ME32 miles from this station, 43.2°F a year
- Orono, ME34 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made