Memphis, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Memphis's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 37.3 inches of precipitation and 19 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 948 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMemphis
- Station IDUSC00235492
- Location40.46°N 92.18°W
- Elevation770 ft (235 m)
- Population1,727
On October 23, the normal high in Memphis is 61°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Memphis.
- Jan 33° 14°
- Feb 38° 18°
- Mar 50° 29°
- Apr 62° 39°
- May 72° 51°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 86° 64°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 77° 53°
- Oct 65° 42°
- Nov 50° 29°
- Dec 38° 20°
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 Memphis each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.48 in), the least in February (1.47 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 14°F | 23.1°F | 1.51 | 6.6 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 18°F | 27.5°F | 1.47 | 6.8 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 29°F | 39.2°F | 2.15 | 1.2 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 39°F | 50.6°F | 3.65 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 51°F | 61.3°F | 5.48 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 71.0°F | 4.71 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 64°F | 75.1°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.2°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 53°F | 65.2°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 42°F | 53.1°F | 2.98 | 0.2 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 29°F | 39.5°F | 2.16 | 0.7 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 20°F | 28.9°F | 1.58 | 3.4 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 40°F | 50.6°F | 37.34 | 19.3 | 82 | 25 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −10°C | −4.9°C | 38 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.5°C | 37 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 10°C | −2°C | 4.0°C | 55 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 93 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 139 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.7°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 76 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.2°C | 55 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −1.7°C | 40 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00235492; 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 Memphis?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00235492.
When is the last frost in Memphis?
In Memphis, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 23 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 2 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 231 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 176 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Memphis in zone 6a in ZIP code 63555, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Memphis's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (21 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00235492; 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 Memphis?
In a normal year in Memphis, 25 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 40high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1938) is 106°F, on July 19, 1954; the lowest is −23°F, on February 6, 2015.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 57.99 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 46.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00235492; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00235492. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Memphis?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Memphis, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.9 |
| February | 69% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 72% | 2.2 |
| December | 66% | 1.7 |
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 Memphis need?
A normal year in Memphis brings 6,149 heating degree days, 14% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 958 cooling degree days, 6% more 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 3,317 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,297 | 0 |
| February | 1,049 | 0 |
| March | 801 | 1 |
| April | 438 | 6 |
| May | 174 | 59 |
| June | 21 | 201 |
| July | 2 | 315 |
| August | 6 | 260 |
| September | 94 | 101 |
| October | 383 | 14 |
| November | 764 | 0 |
| December | 1,121 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,149 | 958 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00235492. 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 Memphis been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 53.8°F, 3.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.6°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50.7°F | +0.1°F | 30.70 | 21.3 |
| 2023 | 53.8°F | +3.2°F | 31.06 | 6.1 |
Over 39 complete years from 1940 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°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 USC00235492; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Memphis's climate compare?
Memphis is warmer than 2 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Memphis 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 Memphis share this climate record?
10 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.
- Edina, MO1,012 people · 20 mi S
- Milton, IA395 people · 15 mi N
- Pulaski, IA259 people · 17 mi N
- Cantril, IA224 people · 14 mi NE
- Wyaconda, MO209 people · 14 mi E
- Baring, MO121 people · 15 mi S
- Rutledge, MO83 people · 11 mi SE
- South Gorin, MO64 people · 11 mi SE
- Mount Sterling, IA32 people · 17 mi NE
- Arbela, MO22 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 Memphis's climate
What is the coldest month in Memphis?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Memphis?
Yes: 19 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Memphis?
May, with 5.48 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.47 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Memphis in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Memphis in zone 6a in ZIP code 63555, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Memphis's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Memphis?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 23; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Keosauqua, IA22 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Bloomfield, IA23 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Kirksville, MO31 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Donnellson, IA35 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made