Nantucket, Massachusetts climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Nantucket's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 75°F July afternoons, with 40.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.4°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 24°C, 1,038 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNantucket Mem Airport
- Station IDUSW00014756
- Location41.25°N 70.06°W
- Elevation45 ft (14 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population (town)14,670
- Census place10,837
On October 14, the normal high in Nantucket is 63°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 42%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Nantucket.
- Jan 40° 27°
- Feb 40° 27°
- Mar 44° 32°
- Apr 52° 39°
- May 61° 47°
- Jun 69° 56°
- Jul 75° 63°
- Aug 76° 62°
- Sep 70° 57°
- Oct 62° 49°
- Nov 53° 40°
- Dec 45° 32°
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 Nantucket each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 75°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.39 in), the least in July (2.72 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 27°F | 33.1°F | 3.18 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 27°F | 33.5°F | 2.84 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 44°F | 32°F | 37.9°F | 3.84 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 39°F | 45.5°F | 3.60 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 61°F | 47°F | 53.8°F | 2.98 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 69°F | 56°F | 62.2°F | 3.00 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 75°F | 63°F | 69.0°F | 2.72 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 76°F | 62°F | 69.0°F | 3.00 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 70°F | 57°F | 63.7°F | 3.59 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 49°F | 55.2°F | 4.39 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 40°F | 46.4°F | 3.79 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 45°F | 32°F | 38.6°F | 3.93 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 44°F | 50.7°F | 40.86 | 141 | <1 | 86 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −3°C | 0.6°C | 81 mm |
| February | 5°C | −3°C | 0.8°C | 72 mm |
| March | 7°C | 0°C | 3.3°C | 98 mm |
| April | 11°C | 4°C | 7.5°C | 91 mm |
| May | 16°C | 8°C | 12.1°C | 76 mm |
| June | 20°C | 13°C | 16.8°C | 76 mm |
| July | 24°C | 17°C | 20.6°C | 69 mm |
| August | 24°C | 17°C | 20.6°C | 76 mm |
| September | 21°C | 14°C | 17.6°C | 91 mm |
| October | 17°C | 9°C | 12.9°C | 112 mm |
| November | 12°C | 4°C | 8.0°C | 96 mm |
| December | 7°C | 0°C | 3.7°C | 100 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014756; 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 Nantucket?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (12).
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 USW00014756.
When is the last frost in Nantucket?
In Nantucket, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 13 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 in half of years and before October 25 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 131 year in 10 after April 27; 9 in 10 after April 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 25; 9 in 10 before November 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 235 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 31 in half of springs and before November 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Nantucket in zone 7b in ZIP code 02554. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Nantucket's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Massachusetts · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014756; 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 Nantucket?
In a normal year in Nantucket, a 90°F day is rare, 86 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 141 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 86a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 141a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 100°F, on August 2, 1975; the lowest is −3°F, on January 16, 2004.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1958, with 60.39 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 73.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014756; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00014756. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Nantucket?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Nantucket, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.8 |
| February | 70% | 2.7 |
| March | 70% | 3.7 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 80% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 70% | 2.0 |
| December | 65% | 1.5 |
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 Nantucket need?
A normal year in Nantucket brings 5,536 heating degree days, 3% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 343 cooling degree days, 62% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,344 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 990 | 0 |
| February | 881 | 0 |
| March | 842 | 0 |
| April | 585 | 0 |
| May | 346 | 1 |
| June | 107 | 23 |
| July | 11 | 135 |
| August | 11 | 137 |
| September | 83 | 44 |
| October | 306 | 4 |
| November | 558 | 0 |
| December | 817 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,536 | 343 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014756. 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 Nantucket been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 52.1°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.7°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 52.7°F | +2.0°F | – |
| 2024 | 52.1°F | +1.4°F | 27.93 |
Over 54 complete years from 1948 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.3°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014756; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Nantucket's climate compare?
Nantucket is warmer than 26 of the other 34 places with their own NOAA record in Massachusetts, and wetter than 0. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.7°F is warmer than 44%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Nantucket is Cfb: temperate, no dry season, warm 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 Nantucket share this climate record?
2 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.
- Madaket, MA378 people · 7 mi W
- Siasconset, MA191 people · 5 mi E
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 Nantucket's climate
What is the coldest month in Nantucket?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (75°F by day, 63°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Nantucket?
October, with 4.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 2.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Nantucket in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Nantucket in zone 7b in ZIP code 02554. By the same method at Nantucket's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Nantucket?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 13; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nantucket in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Massachusetts climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Edgartown, MA25 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- West Harwich, MA29 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Chatham, MA30 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Vineyard Haven, MA30 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made