Madison, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Madison's normal year runs from 25°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 49.5 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.4°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,259 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMadison (3 mi NNW)
- Station IDUSC00465563
- Location38.10°N 81.85°W
- Elevation689 ft (210 m)
- Population2,719
On October 23, the normal high in Madison is 68°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 38%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Madison.
- Jan 45° 25°
- Feb 49° 27°
- Mar 58° 33°
- Apr 70° 42°
- May 78° 52°
- Jun 84° 61°
- Jul 87° 65°
- Aug 86° 64°
- Sep 81° 57°
- Oct 70° 44°
- Nov 59° 33°
- Dec 48° 28°
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 Madison each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.42 in), the least in November (3.19 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F | 25°F | 34.7°F | 3.60 | 6.0 | 16 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 49°F | 27°F | 37.8°F | 3.51 | 3.6 | 15 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 33°F | 45.3°F | 4.43 | 3.3 | 16 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 42°F | 55.9°F | 4.37 | 0.2 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 78°F | 52°F | 65.0°F | 5.41 | 0.0 | 15 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 61°F | 72.6°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 14 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 87°F | 65°F | 76.3°F | 5.42 | 0.0 | 14 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 86°F | 64°F | 75.2°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 57°F | 69.0°F | 3.41 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 44°F | 57.2°F | 3.25 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 33°F | 46.0°F | 3.19 | 0.6 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 28°F | 38.4°F | 4.23 | 3.6 | 16 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 44°F | 56.1°F | 49.55 | 17.3 | 164 | 34 | 112 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −4°C | 1.5°C | 91 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 9°C | −3°C | 3.2°C | 89 mm | 9 cm |
| March | 14°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 113 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 21°C | 5°C | 13.3°C | 111 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 25°C | 11°C | 18.3°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.6°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 24.0°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 14.0°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 81 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 107 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00465563; 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 Madison?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USC00465563.
When is the last frost in Madison?
In Madison, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 27 in half of years and before October 13 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 161 year in 10 after May 2; 9 in 10 after April 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 271 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 192 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 214 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 3 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Madison in zone 7a in ZIP code 25130. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Madison's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00465563; 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 Madison?
In a normal year in Madison, 34 days a year reach 90°F, 112 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 164 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 112a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 13high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 164a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 104°F, on July 13, 1914; the lowest is −25°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 64.46 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 52.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00465563; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00465563. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Madison?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Madison, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and January the cloudiest (57%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 57% | 1.8 |
| February | 59% | 2.5 |
| March | 64% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.1 |
| July | 76% | 5.8 |
| August | 78% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.5 |
| October | 70% | 3.2 |
| November | 69% | 2.3 |
| December | 57% | 1.6 |
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 Madison need?
A normal year in Madison brings 4,426 heating degree days, 18% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,216 cooling degree days, 34% 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 3,983 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 939 | 0 |
| February | 762 | 0 |
| March | 612 | 3 |
| April | 294 | 21 |
| May | 104 | 102 |
| June | 11 | 239 |
| July | 0 | 350 |
| August | 1 | 316 |
| September | 39 | 157 |
| October | 266 | 26 |
| November | 571 | 1 |
| December | 826 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,426 | 1,216 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00465563. 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 Madison been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 57.4°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 56.1°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 55.7°F | −0.4°F | 50.38 | 23.5 |
| 2023 | 57.4°F | +1.3°F | 42.70 | 1.0 |
Over 67 complete years from 1934 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00465563; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Madison's climate compare?
Madison is warmer than 57 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 41. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.1°F is warmer than 64%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Madison 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 Madison 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.
- Danville, WV636 people · 2 mi SE
- Racine, WV451 people · 11 mi E
- Greenview, WV223 people · 8 mi S
- Comfort, WV199 people · 13 mi E
- Van, WV129 people · 11 mi SE
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 Madison's climate
What is the coldest month in Madison?
January, with a normal high of 45°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Madison?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Madison?
July, with 5.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.19 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Madison in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Madison in zone 7a in ZIP code 25130. By the same method at Madison's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Madison?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 2. Waiting until May 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Logan, WV18 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Hamlin, WV19 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- St. Albans, WV19 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Charleston, WV24 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made