Moorhead, Mississippi climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Moorhead's normal year runs from 35°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 55.8 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 17.9°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,416 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMoorhead
- Station IDUSC00226009
- Location33.45°N 90.51°W
- Elevation117 ft (36 m)
- Population1,764
On October 22, the normal high in Moorhead is 74°F and the normal low 53°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Moorhead.
- Jan 52° 35°
- Feb 57° 39°
- Mar 65° 46°
- Apr 74° 55°
- May 82° 64°
- Jun 88° 71°
- Jul 91° 73°
- Aug 91° 73°
- Sep 87° 66°
- Oct 77° 55°
- Nov 64° 44°
- Dec 55° 38°
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 Moorhead each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in April (6.17 in), the least in August (3.06 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 35°F | 43.7°F | 5.11 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 57°F | 39°F | 47.6°F | 5.39 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 11 h |
| March | 65°F | 46°F | 55.7°F | 5.48 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 55°F | 64.2°F | 6.17 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 64°F | 72.7°F | 4.65 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 88°F | 71°F | 79.3°F | 3.89 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 91°F | 73°F | 82.0°F | 4.24 | 9 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 91°F | 73°F | 82.0°F | 3.06 | 8 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 66°F | 76.8°F | 3.53 | 6 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 55°F | 66.1°F | 3.89 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 44°F | 54.1°F | 4.68 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 55°F | 38°F | 46.6°F | 5.67 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 55°F | 64.2°F | 55.76 | 110 | 73 | 35 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 2°C | 6.5°C | 130 mm |
| February | 14°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 137 mm |
| March | 18°C | 8°C | 13.2°C | 139 mm |
| April | 23°C | 13°C | 17.9°C | 157 mm |
| May | 28°C | 18°C | 22.6°C | 118 mm |
| June | 31°C | 22°C | 26.3°C | 99 mm |
| July | 33°C | 23°C | 27.8°C | 108 mm |
| August | 33°C | 23°C | 27.8°C | 78 mm |
| September | 31°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 90 mm |
| October | 25°C | 13°C | 18.9°C | 99 mm |
| November | 18°C | 7°C | 12.3°C | 119 mm |
| December | 13°C | 3°C | 8.1°C | 144 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00226009; 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 Moorhead?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00226009.
When is the last frost in Moorhead?
In Moorhead, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 8 in half of years and after March 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 20 in half of years and before November 4 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 81 year in 10 after March 27; 9 in 10 after February 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 201 year in 10 before November 4; 9 in 10 before December 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 255 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 284 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 25 in half of springs and before December 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Moorhead in zone 8b in ZIP code 38761, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Moorhead's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (26 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Mississippi · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00226009; 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 Moorhead?
In a normal year in Moorhead, 73 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 35 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 110 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 73a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 35a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 110a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1913) is 110°F, on July 5, 1921; the lowest is −10°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1982, with 79.49 in; the snowiest season is 1984–85, with 9.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00226009; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00226009. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Moorhead?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Moorhead, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.6 |
| February | 66% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 4.3 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 80% | 6.2 |
| June | 84% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.4 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 83% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 69% | 2.3 |
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 Moorhead need?
A normal year in Moorhead brings 2,601 heating degree days, 52% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,354 cooling degree days, 2.6 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 5,947 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 663 | 1 |
| February | 489 | 4 |
| March | 310 | 21 |
| April | 110 | 86 |
| May | 16 | 254 |
| June | 0 | 430 |
| July | 0 | 527 |
| August | 0 | 525 |
| September | 4 | 357 |
| October | 92 | 127 |
| November | 343 | 16 |
| December | 575 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,601 | 2,354 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00226009. 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 Moorhead been warmer than normal lately?
Over 60 complete years from 1918 to 2016, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted -1.2°F per century (−0.07°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 Moorhead's climate compare?
Moorhead is warmer than 42 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Mississippi, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.2°F is warmer than 86%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Moorhead 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 Moorhead share this climate record?
6 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.
- Indianola, MS8,702 people · 8 mi W
- Itta Bena, MS1,516 people · 11 mi E
- Sunflower, MS886 people · 7 mi N
- Inverness, MS816 people · 8 mi SW
- Mississippi Valley State University, MS750 people · 11 mi NE
- Morgan City, MS192 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 Moorhead's climate
What is the coldest month in Moorhead?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Moorhead?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.5 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Moorhead?
April, with 6.17 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.06 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Moorhead in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Moorhead in zone 8b in ZIP code 38761, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Moorhead's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Moorhead?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 8; in one year in ten it comes after March 27. Waiting until March 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Mississippi climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Belzoni, MS19 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Stoneville, MS23 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- Cleveland, MS24 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Greenwood, MS25 miles from this station, 64.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made