New Bern, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
New Bern's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 53.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.1°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,346 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNew Bern - Coastal Carolina Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00093719
- Location35.07°N 77.05°W
- Elevation19 ft (6 m)
- Population34,218
On October 14, the normal high in New Bern is 76°F and the normal low 54°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for New Bern.
- Jan 55° 34°
- Feb 59° 36°
- Mar 65° 42°
- Apr 74° 50°
- May 80° 59°
- Jun 87° 67°
- Jul 90° 71°
- Aug 88° 70°
- Sep 83° 65°
- Oct 75° 54°
- Nov 66° 43°
- Dec 59° 37°
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 New Bern each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in August (6.81 in), the least in April (3.18 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 | 55°F | 34°F | 44.5°F | 3.89 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| February | 59°F | 36°F | 47.1°F | 3.32 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 42°F | 53.2°F | 3.85 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 50°F | 61.8°F | 3.18 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 59°F | 69.5°F | 4.25 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 67°F | 77.0°F | 4.60 | 12 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 71°F | 80.4°F | 6.26 | 14 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 70°F | 78.9°F | 6.81 | 14 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 65°F | 74.2°F | 6.33 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 54°F | 64.2°F | 3.56 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 3.33 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 59°F | 37°F | 47.7°F | 3.63 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 52°F | 62.7°F | 53.01 | 127 | 48 | 47 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 99 mm |
| February | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 84 mm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 98 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 81 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 108 mm |
| June | 30°C | 20°C | 25.0°C | 117 mm |
| July | 32°C | 22°C | 26.9°C | 159 mm |
| August | 31°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 173 mm |
| September | 28°C | 18°C | 23.4°C | 161 mm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 90 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 85 mm |
| December | 15°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 92 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Bayboro (14 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093719; 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 New Bern?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September, October and November. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00093719.
When is the last frost in New Bern?
In New Bern, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 23 in half of years and after April 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 15 in half of years and before November 1 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
- March 231 year in 10 after April 7; 9 in 10 after March 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 151 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 237 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 262 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 12 in half of springs and before November 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts New Bern in zone 8b in ZIP code 28562. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, New Bern's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (26 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 USW00093719; 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 New Bern?
In a normal year in New Bern, 48 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 47 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 127 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 48a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 47a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 127a normal year
The highest temperature in New Bern's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1933) is 106°F, on July 22, 1952; the lowest is −4°F, on December 25, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 79.17 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 19.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093719; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record EWNthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is New Bern, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 71°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 72°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (34°F). March is the windiest month (8.2 mph on average), and June has the most clear or nearly clear hours (70%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 66% | 46% | 7.3 mph | 64% | 26% |
| February | 38°F | 66% | 47% | 7.8 mph | 62% | 26% |
| March | 46°F | 66% | 45% | 8.2 mph | 63% | 23% |
| April | 55°F | 70% | 50% | 7.6 mph | 64% | 19% |
| May | 64°F | 74% | 55% | 6.4 mph | 65% | 16% |
| June | 70°F | 76% | 58% | 5.9 mph | 70% | 9% |
| July | 72°F | 80% | 64% | 5.4 mph | 66% | 12% |
| August | 70°F | 79% | 61% | 5.8 mph | 66% | 15% |
| September | 62°F | 79% | 58% | 5.8 mph | 65% | 18% |
| October | 50°F | 75% | 51% | 5.9 mph | 66% | 21% |
| November | 42°F | 73% | 51% | 6.0 mph | 69% | 19% |
| December | 37°F | 71% | 52% | 6.4 mph | 65% | 24% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093719. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is New Bern?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around New Bern, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 New Bern need?
A normal year in New Bern brings 2,698 heating degree days, 50% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,897 cooling degree days, 2.1 times 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 5,349 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 639 | 2 |
| February | 504 | 4 |
| March | 379 | 13 |
| April | 154 | 56 |
| May | 33 | 175 |
| June | 1 | 359 |
| July | 0 | 477 |
| August | 0 | 432 |
| September | 5 | 280 |
| October | 108 | 83 |
| November | 335 | 11 |
| December | 541 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,698 | 1,897 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093719. 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 New Bern been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 63.3°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.7°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.6°F | +0.9°F | 52.28 |
| 2022 | 63.7°F | +1.0°F | 49.76 |
| 2023 | 64.5°F | +1.8°F | 50.00 |
| 2024 | 64.6°F | +1.9°F | 52.13 |
| 2025 | 63.3°F | +0.6°F | 49.16 |
Over 71 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093719; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does New Bern's climate compare?
New Bern is warmer than 113 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 83. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.7°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, New Bern 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 New Bern share this climate record?
3 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.
- James City, NC4,859 people · 3 mi SE
- Vanceboro, NC866 people · 17 mi N
- Bridgeton, NC349 people · 5 mi NE
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 New Bern's climate
What is the coldest month in New Bern?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in New Bern?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for New Bern's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Bayboro (14 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in New Bern?
August, with 6.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.18 in.
What plant hardiness zone is New Bern in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts New Bern in zone 8b in ZIP code 28562. By the same method at New Bern's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in New Bern?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 23; in one year in ten it comes after April 7. Waiting until April 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Bern in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Perrytown, NC2 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Reelsboro, NC9 miles from this station, 63.3°F a year
- Bayboro, NC14 miles from this station, 61.8°F a year
- Havelock, NC15 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made