Norfolk, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Norfolk's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 49.2 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,249 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNorfolk International Airport
- Station IDUSW00013737
- Location36.90°N 76.19°W
- Elevation30 ft (9 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population231,105
On October 23, the normal high in Norfolk is 70°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Norfolk.
- Jan 51° 34°
- Feb 53° 35°
- Mar 60° 41°
- Apr 70° 50°
- May 77° 59°
- Jun 85° 68°
- Jul 89° 73°
- Aug 87° 72°
- Sep 81° 67°
- Oct 72° 55°
- Nov 62° 44°
- Dec 55° 38°
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 Norfolk each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in July (6.08 in), the least in February (2.90 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 34°F | 42.2°F | 3.41 | 3.2 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 53°F | 35°F | 44.2°F | 2.90 | 1.5 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 41°F | 50.7°F | 3.69 | 0.4 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 50°F | 60.1°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 59°F | 68.3°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 85°F | 68°F | 76.7°F | 4.43 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 73°F | 81.1°F | 6.08 | 0.0 | 11 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 72°F | 79.2°F | 5.88 | 0.0 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 67°F | 74.0°F | 5.40 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 55°F | 63.7°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 44°F | 53.3°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 55°F | 38°F | 46.1°F | 3.28 | 1.1 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 53°F | 61.6°F | 49.18 | 6.2 | 118 | 36 | 41 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | 1°C | 5.7°C | 87 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 12°C | 2°C | 6.8°C | 74 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 16°C | 5°C | 10.4°C | 94 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 10°C | 15.6°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 20°C | 24.8°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 23°C | 27.3°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 22°C | 26.2°C | 149 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 19°C | 23.3°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 13°C | 17.6°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 7°C | 11.8°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 3°C | 7.8°C | 83 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013737; 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 Norfolk?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October 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 USW00013737.
When is the last frost in Norfolk?
In Norfolk, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 17 in half of years and after March 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 23 in half of years and before November 8 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 171 year in 10 after March 31; 9 in 10 after February 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 231 year in 10 before November 8; 9 in 10 before December 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 252 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 281 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 4 in half of springs and before December 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Norfolk in zone 8b across its 14 ZIP code areas (8b in 23502, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Norfolk's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013737; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Norfolk ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Norfolk's 14 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Norfolk?
In a normal year in Norfolk, 36 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 41 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 36a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 41a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in Norfolk's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1874) is 105°F, on July 25, 2010; the lowest is −3°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1889, with 70.72 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 41.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013737; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record ORFthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Norfolk, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 69°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 70°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (30°F). March is the windiest month (10.7 mph on average), and November has the most clear or nearly clear hours (61%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 63% | 51% | 9.7 mph | 57% | 27% |
| February | 34°F | 63% | 50% | 10.3 mph | 53% | 30% |
| March | 42°F | 63% | 50% | 10.7 mph | 57% | 25% |
| April | 51°F | 66% | 52% | 10.5 mph | 56% | 21% |
| May | 62°F | 71% | 56% | 8.9 mph | 56% | 18% |
| June | 68°F | 70% | 55% | 8.2 mph | 61% | 9% |
| July | 70°F | 74% | 59% | 7.8 mph | 55% | 13% |
| August | 68°F | 74% | 60% | 8.5 mph | 55% | 15% |
| September | 60°F | 73% | 60% | 8.9 mph | 54% | 21% |
| October | 48°F | 70% | 55% | 8.7 mph | 58% | 24% |
| November | 39°F | 67% | 53% | 8.6 mph | 61% | 21% |
| December | 34°F | 68% | 56% | 8.9 mph | 57% | 26% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013737. 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 Norfolk?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Norfolk, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (72%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 243rd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.5 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 77% | 5.4 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 76% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.8 |
| December | 73% | 2.2 |
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 Norfolk need?
A normal year in Norfolk brings 3,070 heating degree days, 43% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,873 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 5,132 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 709 | 1 |
| February | 582 | 1 |
| March | 453 | 9 |
| April | 201 | 52 |
| May | 53 | 153 |
| June | 4 | 353 |
| July | 0 | 499 |
| August | 0 | 442 |
| September | 5 | 275 |
| October | 115 | 75 |
| November | 362 | 10 |
| December | 587 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 3,070 | 1,873 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013737. 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 Norfolk been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.5°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 61.6°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.2°F | +0.6°F | 38.92 | 3.4 |
| 2022 | 61.3°F | −0.3°F | 39.21 | 11.2 |
| 2023 | 62.7°F | +1.1°F | 50.55 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 63.2°F | +1.6°F | 49.48 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 61.5°F | −0.1°F | 42.35 | 17.8 |
Over 125 complete years from 1871 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013737; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Norfolk's climate compare?
Norfolk is warmer than 79 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 62. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.6°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Norfolk 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 Norfolk share this climate record?
Portsmouth has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Portsmouth, VAalso near: Hampton (15 mi, 59.8°F a year); Suffolk (16 mi, 59.4°F a year)96,482 people · 10 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Norfolk's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Norfolk. This page uses Norfolk International Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk Naval Air Station USW00013750 | 3 mi NW | 17 ft | 61.4°F | 34°F | 89°F | 45.7 | 3 | March 16 |
| Norfolk S USC00446147 | 4 mi S | 10 ft | 60.1°F | 32°F | 88°F | 53.3 | – | March 23 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Norfolk's climate
What is the coldest month in Norfolk?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Norfolk?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Norfolk?
July, with 6.08 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.90 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Norfolk in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Norfolk in zone 8b across its 14 ZIP code areas (8b in 23502, the largest). By the same method at Norfolk's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Norfolk?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 17; in one year in ten it comes after March 31. Waiting until March 31 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Norfolk in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Virginia Beach, VA11 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Chesapeake, VA15 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Hampton, VA15 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Newport News, VA23 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made