Madison, WV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Madison's primary NOAA station, MADISON 3NNW.
The climate verdict for Madison
Water is the standout signal in Madison, West Virginia: 49.5 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 56°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 56°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.5"
- annual precipitation · 17" snow
- 194 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Madison: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00465563 · Madison, WV 56°F mean · 49.5" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,391
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Piedmont Rsch
- PRCP-MID 49.5"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,426 HDD
- STN-1 USC00465563
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Piedmont Rsch Stn, VA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WV station list.
- Madison (this station) 56°F
- Cold Buckhorn Lake, KY 56°F
- Hot Los Lunas, NM 56°F
- Near Piedmont Rsch, VA 56°F
- Near Cylburn, MD 56°F
Climate Living Index · Madison
Madison: 61/100 · grade C
Madison publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Madison, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 112 calendar days | 69/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 56.1°F · 11.4° from 67.5°F | 63/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 194 days/year | 60/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 17.3 inches/year | 52/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 49.5 in · 14.5 from 35 in | 49/100 · D |
Madison · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Madison is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 34.7°F and warmest-month mean 76.3°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 76.3°F
- Coldest month
- 34.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Madison sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Madison's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 64th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- Madison's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 42nd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Madison compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Madison's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Madison's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 67 complete annual observations from 1934 to 2023, MADISON 3NNW warmed at a fitted rate of 0.16°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Madison primary station fitted change +0.16 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F (7°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 3.6" | 6.0" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 49°F (9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 3.5" | 3.6" | 21.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 58°F (14°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 4.4" | 3.3" | 17.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 70°F (21°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 4.4" | 0.2" | 6.0 | 0.5 |
| May | 78°F (25°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 5.4" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| June | 84°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.4 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 5.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.2 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.8 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.4 |
| October | 70°F (21°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 3.9 | 0.3 |
| November | 59°F (15°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 3.2" | 0.6" | 16.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 48°F (9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 4.2" | 3.6" | 22.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 112 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 24°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 11, then returns to freezing around November 21, covering 112 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 29, when 53% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 10 at 32%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 165 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Madison.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 6.0"
16.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.6"
14.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.3"
16.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
14.2 days with precipitation
14.8 days with precipitation
13.9 days with precipitation
14.0 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
12.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.6"
15.9 days with precipitation
Madison spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Madison has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 41.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 5.4" and November 3.2". The three wettest months together take 31% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Madison's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 164 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 49.5" between them, or roughly 0.30 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Madison
Madison averages 17.3 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 12 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 17.3 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 12 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 3% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 27
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 16
50% probability date
Growing Season
194 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,426
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,216
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WV closest to Madison on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (56°F here).
- Bushland, TX 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Colorado City, AZ 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Cullowhee, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Eldon, MO 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Dardanelle, AR 49.5" · 0.0" off
- Lexington, GA 49.5" · 0.0" off
- New Brunswick, NJ 49.5" · 0.0" off
- Elnora, IN 49.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Madison
heating led · wet · mid swing
Madison's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,426 annual heating degree days against 1,216 for cooling. Its 41.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Madison's frost-free season lasts about 194 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Madison coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 35°F (2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Madison typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Madison snow peak
January
Madison averages 17.3 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Madison's climate
How much snow does Madison get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Madison get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Madison? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Madison's primary station: MADISON 3NNW (USC00465563). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5450524). Match rule for Madison: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Madison comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.