Opelika, AL Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Opelika's primary NOAA station, OPELIKA.
The climate verdict for Opelika
Water is the standout signal in Opelika, Alabama: 55.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 62°F. It scores 83/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 81% of them.
- 62°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 83/100
- comfort score, above 81% of station-mapped location scores
- 55.2"
- yearly precipitation total
- 221 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Opelika: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00016129 · Opelika, AL 62°F mean · 55.2" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 62°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,557
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Atlanta Fulton…
- PRCP-WET 55.2"
- SWING-MID 35°F
- COMF-TOP 83/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00016129
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Atlanta Fulton County, GA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every AL station list.
- Opelika (this station) 62°F
- Hot Douglas Bisbee…, AZ 62°F
- Near Atlanta Fulton…, GA 62°F
- Near Camp Pendleton…, CA 62°F
- Near Chickasha, OK 62°F
Climate Living Index · Opelika
Opelika: 79/100 · grade B
Opelika publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Opelika, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 83/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.0 inches/year | 90/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 62.3°F · 5.2° from 67.5°F | 84/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 221 days/year | 77/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 55.2 in · 20.2 from 35 in | 28/100 · F |
Opelika · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Opelika is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 44.3°F and warmest-month mean 79.3°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 79.3°F
- Coldest month
- 44.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Opelika sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Opelika's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 19% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Opelika sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 11% wettest
- Opelika's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 82%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Opelika is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Opelika compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Opelika's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
83 Top 19% score exceeds 81% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Opelika's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 40 complete annual observations from 1958 to 2024, OPELIKA warmed at a fitted rate of 0.17°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Opelika primary station fitted change +0.17 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 16.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (15°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 5.3" | 0.0" | 11.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 67°F (19°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 5.5" | 0.0" | 6.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 74°F (23°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.8" | 0.0" | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 81°F (27°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| June | 87°F (30°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.3 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 4.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 17.8 |
| August | 89°F (31°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.6 |
| September | 84°F (29°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.6 |
| October | 75°F (24°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 58°F (14°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 5.7" | 0.0" | 14.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Opelika: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 33°F near January 13 and 90°F near July 14.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 33°F around January 13.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 5, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 3 at 20%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 100 wet dates a year.
The widest day
November 5 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Opelika.
Where Opelika Stands Nationally
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 55 inches.
Opelika earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
9.7 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
Opelika spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 25% of the annual total and December through February 29%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Opelika has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 35°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: December averages 5.7" and September 3.3". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Opelika, it arrives in quantity
55.2" of precipitation falls across only about 100 wet days here, averaging 0.55 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 100 a year, 27% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.55 inches
- Most wet days
- July, about 10
- Fewest wet days
- October, about 6
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Opelika's record shows no measurable snowfall
This station measured snowfall across the 1991-2020 period and recorded none: the annual normal is 0.0 inches. That is a measured zero rather than missing data, which is a meaningful distinction here , most stations in the database simply do not report snow at all, and those pages say nothing about it.
A thirty-year normal of zero describes the typical year at this station. It is not a claim that snow has never fallen in the area.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 5
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 29
50% probability date
Growing Season
221 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,721
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,755
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AL closest to Opelika on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (62°F here).
- Dunn, NC 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Elizabeth City, NC 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Houston, MS 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Madera, CA 62°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (55.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Germantown, TN 55.2" · 0.0" off
- Lenoir City, TN 55.2" · 0.0" off
- Conway, SC 55.2" · 0.0" off
- Sheridan, AR 55.2" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Opelika's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Opelika averages 55.2 inches of precipitation a year. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Opelika's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 35.0°F. The annual average is 62°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Opelika's normal, at 2,721 and 1,755 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 221-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Opelika's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Opelika, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Opelika's climate
How much rain does Opelika get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Opelika get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Opelika? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Opelika's primary station: OPELIKA (USC00016129). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0157048). Match rule for Opelika: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Opelika comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.