Pontotoc, Mississippi climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pontotoc's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 60.8 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.3 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,545 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPontotoc Experiment Station
- Station IDUSC00227111
- Location34.14°N 89.00°W
- Elevation405 ft (123 m)
- Population6,046
On October 14, the normal high in Pontotoc is 75°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pontotoc.
- Jan 51° 31°
- Feb 56° 35°
- Mar 64° 42°
- Apr 73° 50°
- May 80° 60°
- Jun 87° 67°
- Jul 90° 70°
- Aug 90° 69°
- Sep 85° 63°
- Oct 74° 51°
- Nov 63° 41°
- Dec 54° 34°
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 Pontotoc each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.29 in), the least in September (3.67 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 31°F | 41.4°F | 4.88 | 11 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 56°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 5.56 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| March | 64°F | 42°F | 53.2°F | 5.49 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 50°F | 61.4°F | 6.09 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 60°F | 69.8°F | 5.54 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 87°F | 67°F | 76.9°F | 4.86 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 90°F | 70°F | 79.8°F | 4.89 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 69°F | 79.2°F | 5.02 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 3.67 | 6 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 4.20 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 41°F | 51.9°F | 4.34 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 54°F | 34°F | 44.3°F | 6.29 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 51°F | 61.6°F | 60.83 | 112 | 52 | 63 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 124 mm |
| February | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 141 mm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 139 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 155 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 21.0°C | 141 mm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 123 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 124 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 128 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 93 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 107 mm |
| November | 17°C | 5°C | 11.1°C | 110 mm |
| December | 12°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 160 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00227111; 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 Pontotoc?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00227111.
When is the last frost in Pontotoc?
In Pontotoc, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 28 in half of years and after April 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 in half of years and before October 24 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 12; 9 in 10 after March 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 227 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 252 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 13 in half of springs and before November 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pontotoc in zone 8a in ZIP code 38863, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pontotoc's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Mississippi · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00227111; 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 Pontotoc?
In a normal year in Pontotoc, 52 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 63 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 52a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 63a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1953) is 105°F, on July 31, 1986; the lowest is −7°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1991, with 85.19 in; the snowiest season is 1965–66, with 11.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00227111; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00227111. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pontotoc?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pontotoc, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.1 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 78% | 3.9 |
| November | 76% | 2.9 |
| December | 67% | 2.2 |
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 Pontotoc need?
A normal year in Pontotoc brings 3,066 heating degree days, 43% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,856 cooling degree days, 2.0 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 5,190 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 732 | 1 |
| February | 554 | 1 |
| March | 379 | 12 |
| April | 161 | 52 |
| May | 33 | 182 |
| June | 1 | 357 |
| July | 0 | 459 |
| August | 0 | 440 |
| September | 13 | 270 |
| October | 148 | 72 |
| November | 402 | 9 |
| December | 644 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 3,066 | 1,856 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00227111. 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.
How does Pontotoc's climate compare?
Pontotoc is warmer than 13 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Mississippi, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.6°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pontotoc 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 Pontotoc share this climate record?
6 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.
- Ecru, MS1,109 people · 15 mi N
- Algoma, MS729 people · 4 mi NW
- Thaxton, MS701 people · 15 mi NW
- New Houlka, MS684 people · 7 mi S
- Randolph, MS650 people · 10 mi W
- Toccopola, MS293 people · 15 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 Pontotoc's climate
What is the coldest month in Pontotoc?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Pontotoc?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.3 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Pontotoc?
December, with 6.29 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.67 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pontotoc in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pontotoc in zone 8a in ZIP code 38863, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pontotoc's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Pontotoc?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 28; in one year in ten it comes after April 12. Waiting until April 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Mississippi climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tupelo, MS16 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Verona, MS16 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Houston, MS17 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Calhoun City, MS27 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made