Muscle Shoals, AL Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Muscle Shoals's primary NOAA station, MUSCLE SHOALS 2 N.
The climate verdict for Muscle Shoals
Water is the standout signal in Muscle Shoals, Alabama: 57.6 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 61°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 61°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 57.6"
- precipitation, annual total
- 221 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Muscle Shoals: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00063894 · Muscle Shoals, AL 61°F mean · 57.6" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 61°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,283
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Blytheville
- PRCP-WET 57.6"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USW00063894
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Blytheville, AR (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every AL station list.
- Muscle Shoals (this station) 61°F
- Hot Carthage Wtp, NC 61°F
- Near Blytheville, AR 61°F
- Near Borger, TX 61°F
- Near Burlington Alam…, NC 61°F
Climate Living Index · Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals: 72/100 · grade B
Muscle Shoals publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Muscle Shoals, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 32 calendar days | 95/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 60.7°F · 6.8° from 67.5°F | 79/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 221 days/year | 77/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 57.6 in · 22.6 from 35 in | 20/100 · F |
Muscle Shoals · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Muscle Shoals is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 40.8°F and warmest-month mean 78.9°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 78.9°F
- Coldest month
- 40.8°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Muscle Shoals sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Muscle Shoals's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 23% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Muscle Shoals sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 8% wettest
- Muscle Shoals's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Muscle Shoals is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Muscle Shoals compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Muscle Shoals's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F (10°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 4.9" | 19.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 55°F (13°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 5.2" | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 64°F (18°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 5.3" | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 72°F (22°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 5.0" | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 79°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 5.0" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| June | 87°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 12.7 |
| July | 89°F (32°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 5.1" | 0.0 | 16.9 |
| August | 89°F (32°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 14.9 |
| September | 84°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 4.0" | 0.0 | 8.2 |
| October | 74°F (23°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.7" | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| November | 62°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 4.3" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 54°F (12°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 5.9" | 14.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 31, short of 90°F on every date, while 32 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 31°F near January 15.
The freezing stretch
Freezing normal lows persist into February 2, covering 32 dates.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
The widest day
October 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Muscle Shoals.
Where Muscle Shoals Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 58 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Muscle Shoals earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Muscle Shoals spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 25% of the annual total and December through February 28%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Muscle Shoals has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 38.1°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: December averages 5.9" and October 3.7". The three wettest months together take 28% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 3
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 27
50% probability date
Growing Season
221 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,190
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,651
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AL closest to Muscle Shoals on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (61°F here).
- Blytheville, AR 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Borger, TX 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Concord, NC 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Danielsville, GA 61°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (57.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Woodbury, TN 57.6" · 0.0" off
- D'lo, MS 57.5" · 0.0" off
- Decatur, TN 57.6" · 0.0" off
- Minden, LA 57.6" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Muscle Shoals's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Muscle Shoals averages 57.6 inches of precipitation a year. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Muscle Shoals's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.1°F. The annual average is 61°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Muscle Shoals's normal, at 3,190 and 1,651 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 221-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Muscle Shoals's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Muscle Shoals, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Muscle Shoals's climate
How much rain does Muscle Shoals get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Muscle Shoals get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Muscle Shoals? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Muscle Shoals's primary station: MUSCLE SHOALS 2 N (USW00063894). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0153016). Match rule for Muscle Shoals: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Muscle Shoals comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.