Pelion, South Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pelion's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 52.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.2°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,320 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPelion (0.8 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00386775
- Location33.77°N 81.26°W
- Elevation451 ft (138 m)
- Population623
On October 23, the normal high in Pelion is 77°F and the normal low 50°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 Pelion.
- Jan 59° 34°
- Feb 62° 36°
- Mar 70° 42°
- Apr 78° 51°
- May 85° 61°
- Jun 90° 69°
- Jul 93° 72°
- Aug 92° 71°
- Sep 87° 65°
- Oct 79° 53°
- Nov 68° 41°
- Dec 61° 36°
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 Pelion each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.80 in), the least in November (3.23 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 34°F | 46.4°F | 4.40 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 62°F | 36°F | 49.2°F | 4.20 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 70°F | 42°F | 55.9°F | 4.13 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 78°F | 51°F | 64.6°F | 3.55 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 85°F | 61°F | 72.8°F | 3.39 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 90°F | 69°F | 79.5°F | 5.50 | 11 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 93°F | 72°F | 82.7°F | 5.80 | 11 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 92°F | 71°F | 81.4°F | 5.49 | 10 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 65°F | 76.0°F | 4.44 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 79°F | 53°F | 65.7°F | 3.72 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 68°F | 41°F | 54.8°F | 3.23 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 4.13 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 51.98 | 104 | 68 | 62 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 1°C | 8.0°C | 112 mm |
| February | 17°C | 2°C | 9.6°C | 107 mm |
| March | 21°C | 6°C | 13.3°C | 105 mm |
| April | 26°C | 11°C | 18.1°C | 90 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 86 mm |
| June | 32°C | 20°C | 26.4°C | 140 mm |
| July | 34°C | 22°C | 28.2°C | 147 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.4°C | 139 mm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 113 mm |
| October | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 94 mm |
| November | 20°C | 5°C | 12.7°C | 82 mm |
| December | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 105 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Columbia (15 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00386775; 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 Pelion?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00386775.
When is the last frost in Pelion?
In Pelion, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 28 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 23 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 281 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after March 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 23; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 221 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 242 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 17 in half of springs and before November 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pelion in zone 8a in ZIP code 29123, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pelion's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00386775; 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 Pelion?
In a normal year in Pelion, 68 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 62 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 68a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 62a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1962) is 107°F, on July 13, 1980; the lowest is −2°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1964, with 75.54 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 17.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00386775; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00386775. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pelion?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pelion, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.9 |
| February | 73% | 3.5 |
| March | 75% | 4.5 |
| April | 80% | 5.8 |
| May | 80% | 6.2 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 79% | 3.1 |
| December | 74% | 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 Pelion need?
A normal year in Pelion brings 2,373 heating degree days, 56% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,339 cooling degree days, 2.6 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 5,986 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 577 | 2 |
| February | 447 | 3 |
| March | 302 | 21 |
| April | 103 | 91 |
| May | 16 | 259 |
| June | 0 | 435 |
| July | 0 | 550 |
| August | 0 | 510 |
| September | 4 | 333 |
| October | 90 | 113 |
| November | 324 | 18 |
| December | 510 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,373 | 2,339 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00386775. 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 Pelion been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 64.8°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 64.8°F. 0 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.3°F | −1.5°F | 61.50 |
| 2024 | 64.8°F | at normal | 54.38 |
Over 39 complete years from 1966 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.2°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00386775; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pelion's climate compare?
Pelion is warmer than 63 of the other 72 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 51. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.8°F is warmer than 87%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pelion 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 Pelion share this climate record?
Fairview Crossroads 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.
- Fairview Crossroads, SC523 people · 6 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.
Questions about Pelion's climate
What is the coldest month in Pelion?
January, with a normal high of 59°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Pelion?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Pelion's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Columbia (15 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Pelion?
July, with 5.80 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.23 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pelion in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pelion in zone 8a in ZIP code 29123, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pelion's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Pelion?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 28; in one year in ten it comes after April 10. Waiting until April 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wagener, SC11 miles from this station, 62.9°F a year
- Columbia, SC15 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- N (5 mi NE), SC15 miles from this station, 64.0°F a year
- Batesburg, SC19 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made