Longwood, North Carolina climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Longwood's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 57.0 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.5 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.0°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,448 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLongwood
- Station IDUSC00315116
- Location34.01°N 78.55°W
- Elevation40 ft (12 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Longwood is 72°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Longwood.
- Jan 56° 34°
- Feb 59° 36°
- Mar 65° 42°
- Apr 73° 50°
- May 80° 59°
- Jun 85° 68°
- Jul 88° 72°
- Aug 87° 71°
- Sep 82° 65°
- Oct 74° 53°
- Nov 66° 43°
- Dec 59° 37°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Longwood each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in September (7.53 in), the least in April (3.36 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 34°F | 45.1°F | 3.70 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 36°F | 47.4°F | 3.64 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 65°F | 42°F | 53.5°F | 3.78 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 50°F | 61.4°F | 3.36 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 59°F | 69.4°F | 3.98 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 85°F | 68°F | 76.6°F | 5.17 | 12 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 88°F | 72°F | 80.1°F | 5.91 | 13 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 87°F | 71°F | 78.7°F | 7.36 | 14 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 65°F | 73.8°F | 7.53 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 53°F | 63.8°F | 5.05 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 43°F | 54.0°F | 3.69 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 59°F | 37°F | 47.8°F | 3.85 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 53°F | 62.6°F | 57.02 | 127 | 32 | 55 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 94 mm |
| February | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 92 mm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 96 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 85 mm |
| May | 26°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 101 mm |
| June | 30°C | 20°C | 24.8°C | 131 mm |
| July | 31°C | 22°C | 26.7°C | 150 mm |
| August | 30°C | 21°C | 25.9°C | 187 mm |
| September | 28°C | 19°C | 23.2°C | 191 mm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 128 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 94 mm |
| December | 15°C | 3°C | 8.8°C | 98 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315116; 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.
Which months are mildest at Longwood?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September, October and November. Of those, November 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 USC00315116.
When is the last frost at Longwood?
In Longwood, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 26 in half of years and after April 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 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 261 year in 10 after April 11; 9 in 10 after March 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 29; 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 259 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 10 in half of springs and before November 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Longwood in zone 8b in ZIP code 28452, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00315116; 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 at Longwood?
In a normal year in Longwood, 32 days a year reach 90°F, 55 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 127 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 55a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 127a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1972) is 103°F, on August 22, 1983; the lowest is −4°F, on December 25, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 78.34 in; the snowiest season is 1989–90, with 19.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00315116; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00315116. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Longwood?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Longwood, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.8 |
| February | 73% | 3.4 |
| March | 75% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 79% | 3.0 |
| December | 75% | 2.4 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Longwood record?
A normal year at Longwood brings 2,667 heating degree days, 50% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,829 cooling degree days, 2.0 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 5,297 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 618 | 2 |
| February | 494 | 1 |
| March | 367 | 9 |
| April | 153 | 45 |
| May | 32 | 167 |
| June | 1 | 348 |
| July | 0 | 468 |
| August | 0 | 425 |
| September | 7 | 272 |
| October | 113 | 74 |
| November | 343 | 13 |
| December | 537 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,667 | 1,829 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315116. 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.
Have recent years at Longwood been warmer than normal?
Over 40 complete years from 1974 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°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 Longwood's climate compare?
Longwood is warmer than 113 of the 131 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 101. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.6°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Longwood 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 Longwood share this climate record?
3 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.
- Little River, SC10,457 people · 11 mi SW
- Loris, SC2,825 people · 20 mi W
- Live Oak, SC21 people · 23 mi W
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 Longwood's climate
What is the coldest month at Longwood?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow at Longwood?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.5 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month at Longwood?
September, with 7.53 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.36 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Longwood in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Longwood in zone 8b in ZIP code 28452, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come at Longwood?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 26; in one year in ten it comes after April 11. Waiting until April 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Shallotte, NC11 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Myrtle Beach, SC17 miles from this station, 64.0°F a year
- Southport, NC31 miles from this station, 65.0°F a year
- Whiteville, NC31 miles from this station, 61.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made