Murray, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Murray's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 58.1 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.9°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,475 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMurray
- Station IDUSC00155694
- Location36.61°N 88.31°W
- Elevation527 ft (161 m)
- Population18,567
On October 22, the normal high in Murray is 69°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Murray.
- Jan 46° 27°
- Feb 50° 31°
- Mar 61° 38°
- Apr 71° 48°
- May 79° 57°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 83° 60°
- Oct 71° 48°
- Nov 58° 38°
- Dec 48° 31°
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 Murray each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.76 in), the least in August (3.60 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F | 27°F | 36.5°F | 4.24 | 2.3 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 50°F | 31°F | 40.5°F | 5.17 | 1.8 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 38°F | 49.4°F | 5.54 | 1.0 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 48°F | 59.4°F | 5.58 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 57°F | 68.0°F | 5.76 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.8°F | 5.31 | 0.0 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 79.2°F | 4.73 | 0.0 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 78.1°F | 3.60 | 0.0 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 60°F | 71.4°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 48°F | 59.8°F | 4.14 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 38°F | 48.0°F | 4.63 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 48°F | 31°F | 39.6°F | 5.53 | 1.1 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 48°F | 58.8°F | 58.09 | 6.5 | 117 | 46 | 71 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −3°C | 2.5°C | 108 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 10°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 131 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 16°C | 3°C | 9.7°C | 141 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 22°C | 9°C | 15.2°C | 142 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 20.0°C | 146 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 9°C | −1°C | 4.2°C | 140 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00155694; 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 Murray?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00155694.
When is the last frost in Murray?
In Murray, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 1 in half of years and before October 20 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 51 year in 10 after April 20; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 11 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 209 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 232 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 24 in half of springs and before November 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Murray in zone 7b in ZIP code 42071, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Murray's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00155694; 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 Murray?
In a normal year in Murray, 46 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 71 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 71a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1926) is 110°F, on July 27, 1930; the lowest is −20°F, on January 18, 1930.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1990, with 72.39 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 43.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00155694; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00155694. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Murray?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Murray, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 2.3 |
| February | 63% | 2.8 |
| March | 68% | 3.9 |
| April | 74% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 65% | 2.0 |
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 Murray need?
A normal year in Murray brings 3,861 heating degree days, 28% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,638 cooling degree days, 80% more than 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 4,670 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 883 | 0 |
| February | 685 | 1 |
| March | 491 | 8 |
| April | 208 | 42 |
| May | 56 | 148 |
| June | 3 | 328 |
| July | 0 | 439 |
| August | 0 | 406 |
| September | 24 | 217 |
| October | 207 | 46 |
| November | 514 | 4 |
| December | 789 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,861 | 1,638 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00155694. 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 Murray been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 60.0°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.5°F | +0.7°F | 61.83 | 9.3 |
| 2022 | 58.7°F | −0.1°F | 52.72 | 11.6 |
| 2023 | 60.8°F | +2.0°F | 55.82 | 0.1 |
| 2024 | 61.4°F | +2.6°F | 62.34 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 60.0°F | +1.3°F | 60.66 | 10.1 |
Over 73 complete years from 1928 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00155694; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Murray's climate compare?
Murray is warmer than 61 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 59. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.8°F is warmer than 71%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Murray 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 Murray share this climate record?
4 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.
- Puryear, TN715 people · 12 mi S
- Farmington, KY205 people · 13 mi W
- Buchanan, TN118 people · 14 mi SE
- Cottage Grove, TN67 people · 19 mi SW
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 Murray's climate
What is the coldest month in Murray?
January, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Murray?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Murray?
May, with 5.76 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.60 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Murray in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Murray in zone 7b in ZIP code 42071, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Murray's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Murray?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 20. Waiting until April 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kenlake Resort, KY14 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Benton, KY17 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Paris, TN22 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Dover, TN26 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made