Oak Ridge, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Oak Ridge's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 55.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,410 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOak Ridge Asos
- Station IDUSW00053868
- Location36.02°N 84.24°W
- Elevation910 ft (277 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population34,039
On October 23, the normal high in Oak Ridge is 69°F and the normal low 46°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 Oak Ridge.
- Jan 48° 30°
- Feb 53° 33°
- Mar 62° 40°
- Apr 72° 48°
- May 80° 57°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 88° 68°
- Sep 83° 61°
- Oct 72° 49°
- Nov 60° 38°
- Dec 51° 33°
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 Oak Ridge each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in February (5.59 in), the least in October (3.12 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 30°F | 39.1°F | 5.07 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 33°F | 43.0°F | 5.59 | 12 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 5.12 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 48°F | 60.0°F | 5.20 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 57°F | 68.3°F | 4.07 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.6°F | 4.55 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 79.0°F | 5.54 | 13 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 68°F | 78.1°F | 3.46 | 10 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 3.83 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 49°F | 60.6°F | 3.12 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 38°F | 49.2°F | 4.62 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 33°F | 42.0°F | 5.36 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 49°F | 59.8°F | 55.53 | 130 | 44 | 68 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −1°C | 3.9°C | 129 mm |
| February | 12°C | 1°C | 6.1°C | 142 mm |
| March | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 130 mm |
| April | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 132 mm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 103 mm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 116 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 141 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 88 mm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 97 mm |
| October | 22°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 79 mm |
| November | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 117 mm |
| December | 10°C | 1°C | 5.6°C | 136 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Oak Ridge's own co-op station Oak Ridge Atdd does: 4 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053868; 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 Oak Ridge?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USW00053868.
When is the last frost in Oak Ridge?
In Oak Ridge, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 22 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 311 year in 10 after April 15; 9 in 10 after March 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 218 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 243 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 18 in half of springs and before November 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Oak Ridge in zone 7b in ZIP code 37830. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Oak Ridge's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (22 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 Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053868; 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 Oak Ridge?
In a normal year in Oak Ridge, 44 days a year reach 90°F, 68 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 130 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 44a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 68a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 130a normal year
The highest temperature in Oak Ridge's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1947) is 105°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −17°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 76.33 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 41.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053868; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record OQTthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Oak Ridge?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Oak Ridge, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (79%) and February the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 2.2 |
| February | 61% | 2.8 |
| March | 66% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 78% | 6.2 |
| July | 76% | 5.9 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 74% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 63% | 1.9 |
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 Oak Ridge need?
A normal year in Oak Ridge brings 3,483 heating degree days, 35% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,629 cooling degree days, 79% 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 4,727 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 804 | 0 |
| February | 617 | 1 |
| March | 437 | 6 |
| April | 188 | 39 |
| May | 48 | 151 |
| June | 1 | 321 |
| July | 0 | 436 |
| August | 0 | 405 |
| September | 16 | 226 |
| October | 182 | 44 |
| November | 476 | 2 |
| December | 713 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,483 | 1,629 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053868. 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 Oak Ridge been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 61.8°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.8°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.3°F | +0.5°F | 57.03 |
| 2022 | 60.1°F | +0.3°F | 59.10 |
| 2023 | 61.2°F | +1.4°F | 50.64 |
| 2024 | 61.8°F | +2.0°F | 49.20 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053868. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Oak Ridge's climate compare?
Oak Ridge is warmer than 97 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.8°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Oak Ridge 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 Oak Ridge 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.
- Clinton, TN10,458 people · 8 mi NE
- Karns, TN3,835 people · 8 mi SE
- Petros, TN269 people · 13 mi NW
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 Oak Ridge's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Oak Ridge. This page uses Oak Ridge Asos; the other differs by site and elevation, and the linked ones have pages of their own:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge Atdd USW00003841 | 3 mi NE | 905 ft | 58.6°F | 29°F | 87°F | 59.7 | 4 | April 5 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Oak Ridge's climate
What is the coldest month in Oak Ridge?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Oak Ridge?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Oak Ridge's NOAA station; Oak Ridge's own co-op station Oak Ridge Atdd records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Oak Ridge?
February, with 5.59 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.12 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Oak Ridge in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Oak Ridge in zone 7b in ZIP code 37830. By the same method at Oak Ridge's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Oak Ridge?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 15. Waiting until April 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Oak Ridge Atdd, TN2 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Lenoir City, TN16 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Norris, TN16 miles from this station, 55.6°F a year
- Knoxville Experiment Station, TN18 miles from this station, 57.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made