New Bedford Muni, MA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from New Bedford Muni's primary NOAA station, NEW BEDFORD MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for New Bedford Muni
Water is the standout signal in New Bedford Muni, Massachusetts: 45.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 50°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 50°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 45.9"
- annual precipitation
- 169 days
- frost-free days per growing season
New Bedford Muni: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00094726 · New Bedford Muni, MA 50°F mean · 45.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-MID #2,882
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Colorado Springs
- PRCP-MID 45.9"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,860 HDD
- STN-1 USW00094726
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Colorado Springs, CO (+ 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 MA station list.
- Hot Virginia City, NV 51°F
- Near Mt Pleasant, PA 51°F
- New Bedford (this station) 50°F
- Cold Boulder, UT 50°F
- Near Colorado Springs, CO 50°F
Climate Living Index · New Bedford Muni
New Bedford Muni: 51/100 · grade D
New Bedford Muni publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for New Bedford Muni, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 45.9 in · 10.9 from 35 in | 62/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 133 calendar days | 57/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 50.4°F · 17.1° from 67.5°F | 42/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 169 days/year | 41/100 · D |
New Bedford Muni · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
New Bedford Muni is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.9°F and warmest-month mean 72.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 72.1°F
- Coldest month
- 29.9°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 · heating-led station
Where New Bedford Muni sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for New Bedford Muni's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 42nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 30% wettest
- New Bedford Muni's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 45th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How New Bedford Muni compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
New Bedford Muni's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 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 | 39°F (4°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 3.7" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 41°F (5°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 3.0" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 47°F (8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 4.8" | 21.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 4.0" | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (20°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.3" | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| June | 76°F (25°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.0" | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 4.6" | 4.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 54°F (12°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 4.3" | 14.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (7°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 4.1" | 23.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 20, short of 90°F on every date, while 133 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 20°F near January 26.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 1, then returns to freezing around November 21, covering 133 dates in all.
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.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 15, when 43% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 27 at 35%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 141 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for New Bedford Muni.
Where New Bedford Muni Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
New Bedford Muni 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
10.9 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
12.6 days with precipitation
13.2 days with precipitation
12.0 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
12.5 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
12.7 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
12.4 days with precipitation
New Bedford Muni spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 23% of the annual total and December through February 24%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. New Bedford Muni has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 42.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: March averages 4.8" and July 3.0". The three wettest months together take 30% 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.
How New Bedford Muni's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 141 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 45.9" between them, or roughly 0.33 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 15
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 29
50% probability date
Growing Season
169 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,860
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
577
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MA closest to New Bedford Muni 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 (50°F here).
- Alcalde, NM 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Beaver Falls, PA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Brewster, KS 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Colorado Springs, CO 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (45.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Lebanon, VA 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Jamestown, NY 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Chester, SC 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Claremore, OK 45.9" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How New Bedford Muni's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
New Bedford Muni's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,860 annual heating degree days against 577 for cooling. Its 42.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
New Bedford Muni's frost-free season lasts about 169 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in New Bedford Muni's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.2°F. The annual average is 50°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, New Bedford Muni carries 45.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from New Bedford Muni's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for New Bedford Muni, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about New Bedford Muni's climate
How much rain does New Bedford Muni get? ▼
How cold does New Bedford Muni get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in New Bedford Muni? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from New Bedford Muni's primary station: NEW BEDFORD MUNI AP (USW00094726). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for New Bedford Muni; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for New Bedford Muni 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.