Newport, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Newport's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 60.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.7°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,540 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNewport/Morehead City Weather Office
- Station IDUSC00316096
- Location34.78°N 76.88°W
- Elevation30 ft (9 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population4,501
On October 14, the normal high in Newport is 75°F and the normal low 55°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Newport.
- Jan 54° 34°
- Feb 57° 36°
- Mar 63° 41°
- Apr 71° 50°
- May 78° 59°
- Jun 84° 67°
- Jul 87° 71°
- Aug 87° 70°
- Sep 82° 65°
- Oct 74° 54°
- Nov 65° 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 Newport each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in September (9.57 in), the least in May (3.22 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 34°F | 44.0°F | 4.61 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 36°F | 46.4°F | 4.14 | 12 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 41°F | 52.1°F | 3.67 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 50°F | 60.3°F | 3.52 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 78°F | 59°F | 68.4°F | 3.22 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 84°F | 67°F | 75.5°F | 5.00 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 71°F | 79.2°F | 5.97 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 70°F | 78.4°F | 7.75 | 15 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 65°F | 73.6°F | 9.57 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 54°F | 64.0°F | 4.44 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 4.78 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 59°F | 37°F | 47.6°F | 3.97 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 52°F | 62.0°F | 60.64 | 134 | 18 | 53 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 117 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.0°C | 105 mm |
| March | 17°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 93 mm |
| April | 22°C | 10°C | 15.7°C | 89 mm |
| May | 26°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 82 mm |
| June | 29°C | 20°C | 24.2°C | 127 mm |
| July | 31°C | 22°C | 26.2°C | 152 mm |
| August | 30°C | 21°C | 25.8°C | 197 mm |
| September | 28°C | 18°C | 23.1°C | 243 mm |
| October | 23°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 113 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 121 mm |
| December | 15°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 101 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Morehead City (9 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 USC00316096; 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 Newport?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00316096.
When is the last frost in Newport?
In Newport, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 26 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 16 in half of years and before November 2 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 261 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after March 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 161 year in 10 before November 2; 9 in 10 before December 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 236 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 261 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 12 in half of springs and before November 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Newport in zone 8b in ZIP code 28570, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Newport's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (23 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00316096; 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 Newport?
In a normal year in Newport, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 53 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 134 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 53a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 134a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1996) is 101°F, on July 30, 2011; the lowest is 8°F, on January 25, 2003.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 101.78 in; the snowiest season is 2025–26, with 15.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00316096; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00316096. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Newport?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Newport, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 71% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.4 |
| April | 79% | 5.6 |
| May | 81% | 6.2 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 71% | 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 Newport need?
A normal year in Newport brings 2,785 heating degree days, 48% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,712 cooling degree days, 89% 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 5,114 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 652 | 1 |
| February | 523 | 1 |
| March | 404 | 5 |
| April | 173 | 32 |
| May | 40 | 147 |
| June | 1 | 316 |
| July | 0 | 439 |
| August | 0 | 414 |
| September | 5 | 263 |
| October | 110 | 81 |
| November | 335 | 11 |
| December | 542 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,785 | 1,712 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00316096. 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 Newport been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 62.0°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 62.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.9°F | +0.9°F | 59.03 |
| 2022 | 63.1°F | +1.1°F | 53.57 |
| 2023 | 63.4°F | +1.4°F | 58.97 |
| 2024 | 63.8°F | +1.8°F | 64.30 |
| 2025 | 62.0°F | at normal | 51.49 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00316096. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Newport's climate compare?
Newport is warmer than 103 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 116. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.0°F is warmer than 80%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Newport 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 Newport share this climate record?
8 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.
- Emerald Isle, NC4,001 people · 12 mi SW
- Cape Carteret, NC2,288 people · 12 mi SW
- Broad Creek, NC1,963 people · 4 mi SW
- Cedar Point, NC1,833 people · 13 mi SW
- Brandywine Bay, NC1,404 people · 4 mi SE
- Peletier, NC803 people · 11 mi W
- Bogue, NC715 people · 10 mi SW
- Indian Beach, NC231 people · 6 mi S
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 Newport's climate
What is the coldest month in Newport?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Newport?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Newport's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Morehead City (9 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Newport?
September, with 9.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is May with 3.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Newport in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Newport in zone 8b in ZIP code 28570, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Newport's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Newport?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 26; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Morehead City, NC9 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Havelock, NC9 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Atlantic Beach, NC9 miles from this station, 64.1°F a year
- Beaufort, NC12 miles from this station, 63.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made