Little Rock, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Little Rock's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 50.4 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.5°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,281 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLittle Rock Airport Adams Field
- Station IDUSW00013963
- Location34.73°N 92.24°W
- Elevation258 ft (79 m)
- From the center7 miles
- Population204,774
On October 23, the normal high in Little Rock is 71°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Little Rock.
- Jan 51° 31°
- Feb 55° 34°
- Mar 64° 42°
- Apr 73° 50°
- May 81° 59°
- Jun 88° 68°
- Jul 92° 71°
- Aug 92° 70°
- Sep 85° 63°
- Oct 74° 51°
- Nov 62° 40°
- Dec 53° 33°
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 Little Rock each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in April (5.59 in), the least in September (3.01 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 | 51°F | 31°F | 40.7°F | 3.50 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 3.97 | 1.6 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 64°F | 42°F | 52.7°F | 4.96 | 0.5 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 50°F | 61.4°F | 5.59 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 59°F | 69.9°F | 5.08 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 68°F | 78.0°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 8 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 92°F | 71°F | 81.4°F | 3.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 92°F | 70°F | 80.8°F | 3.16 | 0.0 | 7 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 63°F | 74.0°F | 3.01 | 0.0 | 7 | 11 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 51°F | 62.6°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 4.72 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 53°F | 33°F | 43.0°F | 5.08 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 51°F | 61.7°F | 50.42 | 3.8 | 106 | 76 | 50 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 89 mm | 3 cm |
| February | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 101 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.5°C | 126 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 142 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.4°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 27.1°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 17.0°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 5°C | 10.6°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 1°C | 6.1°C | 129 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013963; 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 Little Rock?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May 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 USW00013963.
When is the last frost in Little Rock?
In Little Rock, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 21 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 10 in half of years and before October 29 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 211 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after March 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 101 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before November 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 234 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 256 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 8 in half of springs and before November 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Little Rock in zone 8a across its 13 ZIP code areas (8a in 72209, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Little Rock's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013963; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Little Rock ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Little Rock's 13 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Little Rock?
In a normal year in Little Rock, 76 days a year reach 90°F (8 of them 100°F or more), 50 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 106 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 76a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 50a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 106a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in Little Rock's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1879) is 114°F, on August 3, 2011; the lowest is −12°F, on February 12, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2009, with 81.79 in; the snowiest season is 1917–18, with 26.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013963; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record LITthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Little Rock, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 69°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 71°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (32°F). March is the windiest month (8.7 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (56%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 64% | 46% | 7.7 mph | 41% | 36% |
| February | 37°F | 64% | 46% | 8.4 mph | 37% | 36% |
| March | 46°F | 64% | 47% | 8.7 mph | 35% | 32% |
| April | 55°F | 68% | 50% | 7.8 mph | 37% | 29% |
| May | 65°F | 72% | 54% | 6.6 mph | 30% | 22% |
| June | 70°F | 70% | 51% | 6.4 mph | 37% | 14% |
| July | 71°F | 70% | 51% | 5.8 mph | 39% | 12% |
| August | 68°F | 69% | 48% | 5.8 mph | 46% | 12% |
| September | 57°F | 67% | 44% | 6.1 mph | 56% | 14% |
| October | 47°F | 71% | 49% | 6.6 mph | 47% | 27% |
| November | 37°F | 69% | 50% | 7.4 mph | 41% | 34% |
| December | 32°F | 70% | 53% | 7.5 mph | 38% | 37% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013963. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Little Rock?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Little Rock, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (65%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 276th (with 27 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.0 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 74% | 2.8 |
| December | 70% | 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 Little Rock need?
A normal year in Little Rock brings 3,165 heating degree days, 41% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,989 cooling degree days, 2.2 times 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 5,263 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 754 | 1 |
| February | 569 | 1 |
| March | 391 | 11 |
| April | 154 | 48 |
| May | 30 | 182 |
| June | 0 | 389 |
| July | 0 | 510 |
| August | 0 | 490 |
| September | 11 | 281 |
| October | 145 | 69 |
| November | 425 | 7 |
| December | 684 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,165 | 1,989 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013963. 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 Little Rock been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.3°F, 2.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.7°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.9°F | +1.2°F | 43.71 | 20.3 |
| 2022 | 64.0°F | +2.3°F | 48.27 | 6.1 |
| 2023 | 66.2°F | +4.5°F | 56.86 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 66.1°F | +4.4°F | 58.42 | 3.7 |
| 2025 | 64.3°F | +2.6°F | 53.29 | 10.2 |
Over 81 complete years from 1943 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013963; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Little Rock's climate compare?
Little Rock is warmer than 48 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 27. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.7°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Little Rock 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 Little Rock share this climate record?
7 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.
- East End, AR6,344 people · 13 mi SW
- Landmark, AR3,679 people · 9 mi SW
- Wrightsville, AR1,618 people · 7 mi S
- Sweet Home, AR1,206 people · 4 mi S
- Woodson, AR724 people · 13 mi S
- College Station, AR326 people · 2 mi S
- Scott, AR28 people · 9 mi E
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 Little Rock's climate
What is the coldest month in Little Rock?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Little Rock?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (1.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Little Rock?
April, with 5.59 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Little Rock in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Little Rock in zone 8a across its 13 ZIP code areas (8a in 72209, the largest). By the same method at Little Rock's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Little Rock?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 21; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Little Rock in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- North Little Rock, AR7 miles from this station, 61.8°F a year
- Marche, AR12 miles from this station, 60.3°F a year
- Keo, AR16 miles from this station, 61.1°F a year
- Cabot, AR22 miles from this station, 60.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made