Mount Airy, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mount Airy's normal year runs from 25°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 50.5 inches of precipitation and 8 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.1°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,282 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMount Airy (2 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00315890
- Location36.50°N 80.65°W
- Elevation1,080 ft (329 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population10,583
On October 14, the normal high in Mount Airy is 71°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Mount Airy.
- Jan 47° 25°
- Feb 51° 27°
- Mar 58° 33°
- Apr 69° 41°
- May 76° 50°
- Jun 83° 59°
- Jul 86° 63°
- Aug 85° 62°
- Sep 79° 56°
- Oct 70° 43°
- Nov 59° 33°
- Dec 50° 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 Mount Airy each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.24 in), the least in February (3.14 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 25°F | 35.9°F | 3.99 | 3.1 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| February | 51°F | 27°F | 38.7°F | 3.14 | 2.2 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 33°F | 45.5°F | 4.19 | 1.2 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 41°F | 54.6°F | 4.29 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 50°F | 63.2°F | 4.53 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 83°F | 59°F | 71.0°F | 4.95 | 0.0 | 13 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 63°F | 74.8°F | 5.24 | 0.0 | 14 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 62°F | 73.5°F | 4.69 | 0.0 | 13 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 56°F | 67.5°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 43°F | 56.5°F | 3.54 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 33°F | 45.9°F | 3.44 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 28°F | 38.7°F | 4.20 | 1.7 | 12 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 43°F | 55.5°F | 50.46 | 8.2 | 137 | 24 | 111 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −4°C | 2.2°C | 101 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 10°C | −3°C | 3.7°C | 80 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 15°C | 0°C | 7.5°C | 106 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 20°C | 5°C | 12.6°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 6°C | 13.6°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 10°C | −2°C | 3.7°C | 107 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315890; 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 Mount Airy?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00315890.
When is the last frost in Mount Airy?
In Mount Airy, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 11 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 191 year in 10 after May 8; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 186 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 210 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 2 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mount Airy in zone 7b in ZIP code 27030, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mount Airy's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (29 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 USC00315890; 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 Mount Airy?
In a normal year in Mount Airy, 24 days a year reach 90°F, 111 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 137 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 24a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 111a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 137a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 105°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −10°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 69.96 in; the snowiest season is 1917–18, with 28.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00315890; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00315890. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mount Airy?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mount Airy, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (78%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.5 |
| February | 70% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 77% | 5.4 |
| September | 75% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 77% | 2.8 |
| December | 70% | 2.1 |
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 Mount Airy need?
A normal year in Mount Airy brings 4,412 heating degree days, 18% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 973 cooling degree days, 7% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,603 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 902 | 0 |
| February | 736 | 0 |
| March | 605 | 0 |
| April | 320 | 8 |
| May | 119 | 64 |
| June | 14 | 194 |
| July | 1 | 304 |
| August | 2 | 267 |
| September | 46 | 121 |
| October | 278 | 15 |
| November | 573 | 0 |
| December | 815 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,412 | 973 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00315890. 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 Mount Airy been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.5°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.7°F | +1.2°F | 40.64 | 2.7 |
| 2022 | 56.1°F | +0.6°F | 52.31 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 57.2°F | +1.7°F | 54.35 | 0.1 |
| 2024 | 57.8°F | +2.3°F | 55.93 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 56.5°F | +1.0°F | 42.37 | 8.5 |
Over 102 complete years from 1890 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00315890; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Mount Airy's climate compare?
Mount Airy is warmer than 18 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 62. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.5°F is warmer than 62%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mount Airy 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 Mount Airy 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.
- Hillsville, VA2,843 people · 19 mi N
- Dobson, NC1,469 people · 8 mi SW
- Cana, VA1,164 people · 6 mi N
- Toast, NC1,066 people · 1 mi E
- White Plains, NC876 people · 4 mi S
- Fancy Gap, VA243 people · 12 mi N
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 Mount Airy's climate
What is the coldest month in Mount Airy?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Mount Airy?
Yes: 8 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Mount Airy?
July, with 5.24 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.14 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mount Airy in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mount Airy in zone 7b in ZIP code 27030, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Mount Airy's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Mount Airy?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 8. Waiting until May 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Mount Airy in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Meadows of Dan, VA16 miles from this station, 54.2°F a year
- Galax, VA19 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Elkin, NC21 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Stuart, VA24 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