Morehead City, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Morehead City's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 61.2 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 17.3°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,553 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMorehead City (2 mi WNW)
- Station IDUSC00315830
- Location34.73°N 76.74°W
- Elevation10 ft (3 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population9,963
On October 23, the normal high in Morehead City is 73°F and the normal low 53°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Morehead City.
- Jan 55° 36°
- Feb 57° 38°
- Mar 62° 44°
- Apr 70° 52°
- May 77° 62°
- Jun 83° 70°
- Jul 86° 74°
- Aug 85° 72°
- Sep 82° 68°
- Oct 75° 57°
- Nov 66° 46°
- Dec 59° 40°
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 Morehead City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in September (8.77 in), the least in April (3.58 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 36°F | 45.7°F | 4.51 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 38°F | 47.6°F | 3.89 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| March | 62°F | 44°F | 53.2°F | 3.72 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 52°F | 61.2°F | 3.58 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 62°F | 69.2°F | 4.40 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 83°F | 70°F | 76.5°F | 5.04 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 86°F | 74°F | 79.7°F | 5.66 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 72°F | 78.8°F | 7.76 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 68°F | 75.1°F | 8.77 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 57°F | 65.7°F | 4.84 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 46°F | 55.9°F | 4.55 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 59°F | 40°F | 49.5°F | 4.44 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 55°F | 63.2°F | 61.16 | 111 | 11 | 36 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 2°C | 7.6°C | 115 mm |
| February | 14°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 99 mm |
| March | 17°C | 7°C | 11.8°C | 94 mm |
| April | 21°C | 11°C | 16.2°C | 91 mm |
| May | 25°C | 17°C | 20.7°C | 112 mm |
| June | 28°C | 21°C | 24.7°C | 128 mm |
| July | 30°C | 23°C | 26.5°C | 144 mm |
| August | 30°C | 22°C | 26.0°C | 197 mm |
| September | 28°C | 20°C | 23.9°C | 223 mm |
| October | 24°C | 14°C | 18.7°C | 123 mm |
| November | 19°C | 8°C | 13.3°C | 116 mm |
| December | 15°C | 5°C | 9.7°C | 113 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315830; 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 Morehead City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September, October and November. 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 USC00315830.
When is the last frost in Morehead City?
In Morehead City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 18 in half of years and after April 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 21 in half of years and before November 5 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 181 year in 10 after April 5; 9 in 10 after February 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 211 year in 10 before November 5; 9 in 10 before December 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 249 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 279 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 2 in half of springs and before December 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Morehead City in zone 8b in ZIP code 28557. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Morehead City's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00315830; 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 Morehead City?
In a normal year in Morehead City, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 36 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 36a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 103°F, on June 30, 1959; the lowest is 1°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 91.51 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 22.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00315830; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00315830. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Morehead City?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Morehead City, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 71% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.4 |
| April | 79% | 5.6 |
| May | 81% | 6.2 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 71% | 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 Morehead City need?
A normal year in Morehead City brings 2,483 heating degree days, 54% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,849 cooling degree days, 2.0 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,369 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 599 | 0 |
| February | 486 | 0 |
| March | 369 | 4 |
| April | 150 | 34 |
| May | 29 | 159 |
| June | 1 | 348 |
| July | 0 | 454 |
| August | 0 | 429 |
| September | 3 | 307 |
| October | 77 | 99 |
| November | 286 | 13 |
| December | 484 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,483 | 1,849 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315830. 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 Morehead City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 62.4°F, 0.8°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 63.2°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.2°F | at normal | 61.33 |
| 2022 | 63.4°F | +0.2°F | 52.64 |
| 2023 | 63.6°F | +0.4°F | 64.26 |
| 2024 | 63.7°F | +0.5°F | 55.00 |
| 2025 | 62.4°F | −0.8°F | 48.22 |
Over 91 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00315830; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Morehead City's climate compare?
Morehead City is warmer than 117 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 117. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.2°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Morehead City 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.
Questions about Morehead City's climate
What is the coldest month in Morehead City?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 74°F at night).
Does it snow in Morehead City?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.5 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Morehead City?
September, with 8.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.58 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Morehead City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Morehead City in zone 8b in ZIP code 28557. By the same method at Morehead City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Morehead City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 18; in one year in ten it comes after April 5. Waiting until April 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Atlantic Beach, NC2 miles from this station, 64.1°F a year
- Beaufort, NC4 miles from this station, 63.8°F a year
- Newport, NC9 miles from this station, 62.0°F a year
- Havelock, NC14 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made