Ocean City, Maryland climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ocean City's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 42.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.3°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,083 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOcean City Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00093786
- Location38.31°N 75.12°W
- Elevation12 ft (4 m)
- Population6,884
On October 14, the normal high in Ocean City is 68°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ocean City.
- Jan 45° 28°
- Feb 47° 29°
- Mar 52° 35°
- Apr 62° 44°
- May 70° 53°
- Jun 79° 63°
- Jul 84° 68°
- Aug 83° 67°
- Sep 77° 61°
- Oct 68° 49°
- Nov 58° 39°
- Dec 50° 32°
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 Ocean City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.04 in), the least in February (2.95 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 | 45°F | 28°F | 36.4°F | 3.39 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 29°F | 38.0°F | 2.95 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 52°F | 35°F | 43.8°F | 3.86 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 44°F | 52.8°F | 3.00 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 70°F | 53°F | 61.8°F | 3.76 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 79°F | 63°F | 71.3°F | 3.32 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 84°F | 68°F | 76.3°F | 3.77 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 83°F | 67°F | 74.8°F | 3.83 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 77°F | 61°F | 69.1°F | 3.93 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 49°F | 58.4°F | 4.04 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 39°F | 48.1°F | 3.18 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 50°F | 32°F | 40.7°F | 3.60 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 48°F | 56.0°F | 42.63 | 130 | 13 | 81 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −2°C | 2.4°C | 86 mm |
| February | 8°C | −1°C | 3.3°C | 75 mm |
| March | 11°C | 2°C | 6.6°C | 98 mm |
| April | 16°C | 7°C | 11.6°C | 76 mm |
| May | 21°C | 12°C | 16.6°C | 96 mm |
| June | 26°C | 17°C | 21.8°C | 84 mm |
| July | 29°C | 20°C | 24.6°C | 96 mm |
| August | 28°C | 19°C | 23.8°C | 97 mm |
| September | 25°C | 16°C | 20.6°C | 100 mm |
| October | 20°C | 10°C | 14.7°C | 103 mm |
| November | 14°C | 4°C | 8.9°C | 81 mm |
| December | 10°C | 0°C | 4.8°C | 91 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Snow Hill (15 miles away), gets 10 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093786; 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 Ocean City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USW00093786.
When is the last frost in Ocean City?
In Ocean City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 2 in half of years and before October 20 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
- April 71 year in 10 after April 23; 9 in 10 after March 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 21 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 209 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 233 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 26 in half of springs and before November 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ocean City in zone 8a in ZIP code 21842. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ocean City's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (20 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 Maryland · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093786; 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 Ocean City?
In a normal year in Ocean City, 13 days a year reach 90°F, 81 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 130 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 13a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 81a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 130a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093786.
How sunny is Ocean City?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ocean City, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and January the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.2 |
| February | 71% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 75% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.3 |
| November | 75% | 2.5 |
| December | 71% | 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 Ocean City need?
A normal year in Ocean City brings 4,369 heating degree days, 19% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,105 cooling degree days, 22% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,739 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 886 | 0 |
| February | 756 | 0 |
| March | 658 | 0 |
| April | 376 | 10 |
| May | 153 | 52 |
| June | 17 | 206 |
| July | 1 | 351 |
| August | 1 | 306 |
| September | 30 | 153 |
| October | 232 | 26 |
| November | 506 | 1 |
| December | 753 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,369 | 1,105 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093786. 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 Ocean City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.0°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 56.0°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 56.2°F | +0.2°F | 37.86 |
| 2023 | 58.6°F | +2.6°F | 34.10 |
| 2025 | 56.0°F | at normal | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093786. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ocean City's climate compare?
Ocean City is warmer than 12 of the other 25 places with their own NOAA record in Maryland, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.0°F is warmer than 64%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ocean City 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 Ocean City share this climate record?
12 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.
- Ocean Pines, MD12,028 people · 5 mi N
- Berlin, MD5,349 people · 5 mi W
- West Ocean City, MD5,124 people · 3 mi N
- Selbyville, DE3,285 people · 11 mi NW
- Ocean View, DE3,023 people · 15 mi N
- Millville, DE2,108 people · 16 mi N
- Bethany Beach, DE1,083 people · 16 mi N
- Dagsboro, DE988 people · 18 mi N
- Frankford, DE905 people · 16 mi N
- South Bethany, DE520 people · 15 mi N
- Fenwick Island, DE389 people · 11 mi N
- Whaleyville, MD179 people · 11 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.
Questions about Ocean City's climate
What is the coldest month in Ocean City?
January, with a normal high of 45°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Ocean City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Ocean City's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Snow Hill (15 miles away), records 10 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Ocean City?
October, with 4.04 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.95 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ocean City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ocean City in zone 8a in ZIP code 21842. By the same method at Ocean City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Ocean City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 23. Waiting until April 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Ocean City in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Maryland climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Snow Hill, MD15 miles from this station, 59.3°F a year
- Assateague, MD17 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Salisbury, MD21 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Georgetown, DE29 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made