Plains, Georgia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Plains's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 50.7 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.1 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.1°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,287 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPlains SW Ga Experiment Station
- Station IDUSC00097087
- Location32.05°N 84.37°W
- Elevation500 ft (152 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population525
On October 14, the normal high in Plains is 78°F and the normal low 55°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Plains.
- Jan 58° 36°
- Feb 62° 39°
- Mar 69° 45°
- Apr 76° 51°
- May 83° 60°
- Jun 89° 68°
- Jul 90° 71°
- Aug 89° 70°
- Sep 85° 65°
- Oct 77° 54°
- Nov 68° 44°
- Dec 61° 39°
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 Plains each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.34 in), the least in October (2.69 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F | 36°F | 47.0°F | 4.56 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 62°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 4.50 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 45°F | 56.9°F | 4.91 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 51°F | 63.6°F | 4.07 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 3.06 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 68°F | 78.0°F | 4.57 | 10 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 90°F | 71°F | 80.5°F | 5.02 | 10 | 22 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 89°F | 70°F | 79.6°F | 4.68 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 85°F | 65°F | 74.9°F | 3.95 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 77°F | 54°F | 65.4°F | 2.69 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 68°F | 44°F | 55.8°F | 3.31 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 61°F | 39°F | 49.7°F | 5.34 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 53°F | 64.5°F | 50.66 | 93 | 72 | 42 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 116 mm |
| February | 17°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 114 mm |
| March | 21°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 125 mm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 103 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 78 mm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 116 mm |
| July | 32°C | 22°C | 26.9°C | 128 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.4°C | 119 mm |
| September | 29°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 100 mm |
| October | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 68 mm |
| November | 20°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 84 mm |
| December | 16°C | 4°C | 9.8°C | 136 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00097087; 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 Plains?
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 (5).
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 USC00097087.
When is the last frost in Plains?
In Plains, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 15 in half of years and after April 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 17 in half of years and before November 1 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 151 year in 10 after April 2; 9 in 10 after February 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 171 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 249 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 281 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 28 in half of springs and before December 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Plains in zone 8b in ZIP code 31780, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Plains's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Georgia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00097087; 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 Plains?
In a normal year in Plains, 72 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 42 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 72a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 42a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1956) is 105°F, on August 19, 2000; the lowest is −2°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1964, with 70.58 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 8.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00097087; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00097087. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Plains?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Plains, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.9 |
| February | 71% | 3.4 |
| March | 75% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 82% | 6.3 |
| June | 79% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 80% | 3.2 |
| December | 72% | 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 Plains need?
A normal year in Plains brings 2,231 heating degree days, 58% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,063 cooling degree days, 2.3 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,771 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 560 | 2 |
| February | 415 | 3 |
| March | 272 | 21 |
| April | 108 | 65 |
| May | 16 | 225 |
| June | 0 | 392 |
| July | 0 | 482 |
| August | 0 | 451 |
| September | 4 | 303 |
| October | 88 | 100 |
| November | 291 | 17 |
| December | 478 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,231 | 2,063 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00097087. 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 Plains been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 65.8°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.5°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65.6°F | +1.1°F | 56.28 |
| 2022 | 65.8°F | +1.3°F | 40.79 |
Over 44 complete years from 1957 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.7°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00097087; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Plains's climate compare?
Plains is warmer than 59 of the other 100 places with their own NOAA record in Georgia, and wetter than 41. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.5°F is warmer than 87%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Plains 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 Plains share this climate record?
4 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.
- Webster County, GA2,315 people · 11 mi W
- Buena Vista, GA1,586 people · 21 mi NW
- Ellaville, GA1,513 people · 14 mi N
- Parrott, GA108 people · 13 mi SW
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 Plains's climate
What is the coldest month in Plains?
January, with a normal high of 58°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Plains?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.1 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Plains?
December, with 5.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.69 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Plains in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Plains in zone 8b in ZIP code 31780, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Plains's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Plains?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 15; in one year in ten it comes after April 2. Waiting until April 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Georgia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Americus, GA7 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- Leesburg, GA22 miles from this station, 65.8°F a year
- Lumpkin, GA24 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- Crisp County Power Dam, GA29 miles from this station, 65.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made