Opelika, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Opelika's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 55.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.8°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,402 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOpelika
- Station IDUSC00016129
- Location32.66°N 85.45°W
- Elevation640 ft (195 m)
- Population35,005
On October 23, the normal high in Opelika is 73°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Opelika.
- Jan 56° 33°
- Feb 60° 36°
- Mar 67° 42°
- Apr 74° 49°
- May 81° 58°
- Jun 87° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 69°
- Sep 84° 63°
- Oct 75° 51°
- Nov 66° 40°
- Dec 58° 35°
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 Opelika each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.67 in), the least in September (3.34 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 | 56°F | 33°F | 44.3°F | 5.05 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 36°F | 47.8°F | 5.33 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 42°F | 54.6°F | 5.50 | 8 | <1 | 7 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 49°F | 61.3°F | 4.79 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 58°F | 69.4°F | 4.01 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 87°F | 65°F | 76.1°F | 4.50 | 10 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.3°F | 4.77 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 89°F | 69°F | 78.6°F | 4.36 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 84°F | 63°F | 73.5°F | 3.34 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 51°F | 62.9°F | 3.61 | 6 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 40°F | 53.0°F | 4.27 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 35°F | 46.6°F | 5.67 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 51°F | 62.3°F | 55.20 | 100 | 51 | 60 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 128 mm |
| February | 15°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 135 mm |
| March | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 140 mm |
| April | 23°C | 9°C | 16.3°C | 122 mm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 102 mm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.5°C | 114 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 121 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 111 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 85 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 92 mm |
| November | 19°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 108 mm |
| December | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 144 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00016129; 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 Opelika?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00016129.
When is the last frost in Opelika?
In Opelika, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 5 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 291 year in 10 after April 15; 9 in 10 after March 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 51 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 223 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 251 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 13 in half of springs and before November 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Opelika in zone 8a in ZIP code 36801. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Opelika's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (18 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00016129; 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 Opelika?
In a normal year in Opelika, 51 days a year reach 90°F, 60 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 100 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 51a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 60a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 100a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1957) is 103°F, on July 14, 1980; the lowest is −7°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 80.77 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 8.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00016129; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00016129. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Opelika?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Opelika, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.8 |
| February | 70% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 82% | 6.3 |
| June | 80% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.2 |
| December | 71% | 2.5 |
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 Opelika need?
A normal year in Opelika brings 2,721 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,755 cooling degree days, 93% 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 5,180 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 642 | 1 |
| February | 483 | 2 |
| March | 334 | 10 |
| April | 152 | 41 |
| May | 32 | 169 |
| June | 1 | 334 |
| July | 0 | 443 |
| August | 0 | 420 |
| September | 7 | 263 |
| October | 132 | 65 |
| November | 367 | 7 |
| December | 572 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,721 | 1,755 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00016129. 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 Opelika been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 63.6°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.3°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.2°F | −0.1°F | 64.33 |
| 2022 | 61.1°F | −1.1°F | 51.61 |
| 2023 | 62.7°F | +0.4°F | 53.33 |
| 2024 | 63.6°F | +1.3°F | 62.93 |
Over 40 complete years from 1958 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.1°F per century (+0.17°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00016129; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Opelika's climate compare?
Opelika is warmer than 27 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.3°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Opelika 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.
Questions about Opelika's climate
What is the coldest month in Opelika?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Opelika?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Opelika?
December, with 5.67 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.34 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Opelika in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Opelika in zone 8a in ZIP code 36801. By the same method at Opelika's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Opelika?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; 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
- Opelika in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Auburn, AL4 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Camp Hill, AL17 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Lafayette (2 mi W), AL17 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- West Point, GA22 miles from this station, 62.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made