Lowell, Massachusetts climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lowell's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 48.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.4°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,232 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLowell
- Station IDUSC00194313
- Location42.64°N 71.36°W
- Elevation110 ft (34 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population120,418
On October 23, the normal high in Lowell is 59°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lowell.
- Jan 34° 16°
- Feb 37° 17°
- Mar 45° 24°
- Apr 59° 35°
- May 70° 45°
- Jun 79° 55°
- Jul 85° 61°
- Aug 83° 59°
- Sep 76° 52°
- Oct 62° 40°
- Nov 51° 30°
- Dec 40° 22°
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 Lowell each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in October (5.00 in), the least in February (3.20 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 16°F | 24.9°F | 3.61 | 11 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 37°F | 17°F | 27.1°F | 3.20 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 24°F | 34.9°F | 4.32 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 35°F | 46.8°F | 4.06 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 45°F | 57.5°F | 3.81 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 55°F | 67.0°F | 4.37 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 61°F | 72.8°F | 3.86 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 59°F | 71.1°F | 4.00 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 52°F | 63.5°F | 3.89 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 40°F | 50.9°F | 5.00 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 30°F | 40.4°F | 3.85 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 40°F | 22°F | 31.0°F | 4.54 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 38°F | 49.0°F | 48.51 | 127 | 20 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −9°C | −3.9°C | 92 mm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 81 mm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.6°C | 110 mm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 103 mm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 97 mm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 111 mm |
| July | 29°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 98 mm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 102 mm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.5°C | 99 mm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.5°C | 127 mm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 98 mm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.6°C | 115 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Hudson (10 miles away), gets 67 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00194313; 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 Lowell?
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 USC00194313.
When is the last frost in Lowell?
In Lowell, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 30 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 301 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 187 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lowell in zone 6b across its 4 ZIP code areas (6b in 01852, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lowell's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (25 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Massachusetts · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00194313; 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 Lowell ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Lowell's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6b. 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 Lowell?
In a normal year in Lowell, 20 days a year reach 90°F, 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 127 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 33high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 127a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1885) is 103°F, on June 25, 2025; the lowest is −29°F, on February 16, 1943.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 72.55 in; the snowiest season is 2014–15, with 120.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00194313; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00194313. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lowell?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lowell, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (66%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 385th (with 30 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 70% | 2.7 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 71% | 5.7 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.3 |
| October | 68% | 2.8 |
| November | 70% | 2.0 |
| December | 66% | 1.5 |
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 Lowell need?
A normal year in Lowell brings 6,465 heating degree days, 20% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 668 cooling degree days, 26% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,736 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,243 | 0 |
| February | 1,061 | 0 |
| March | 933 | 0 |
| April | 549 | 3 |
| May | 255 | 22 |
| June | 57 | 117 |
| July | 6 | 248 |
| August | 12 | 203 |
| September | 115 | 70 |
| October | 440 | 4 |
| November | 738 | 0 |
| December | 1,056 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,465 | 668 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00194313. 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 Lowell been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.3°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.0°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.3°F | +1.3°F | 36.06 |
Over 72 complete years from 1889 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.7°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00194313; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lowell's climate compare?
Lowell is warmer than 13 of the other 34 places with their own NOAA record in Massachusetts, and wetter than 22. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.0°F is warmer than 36%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lowell is Dfa: continental, 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 Lowell share this climate record?
Londonderry has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Londonderry, NH27,101 people · 15 mi N
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 Lowell's climate
What is the coldest month in Lowell?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Lowell?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lowell's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Hudson (10 miles away), records 67 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lowell?
October, with 5.00 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.20 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lowell in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lowell in zone 6b across its 4 ZIP code areas (6b in 01852, the largest). By the same method at Lowell's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Lowell?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Lowell in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Massachusetts climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Nashua, NH9 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Hudson, NH10 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Bedford, MA12 miles from this station, 49.6°F a year
- Bedford Hanscom Field, MA12 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made