Poughkeepsie, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Poughkeepsie's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 41.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,064 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPoughkeepsie/Hudson Valley Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00014757
- Location41.63°N 73.88°W
- Elevation166 ft (51 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population32,293
On October 23, the normal high in Poughkeepsie is 61°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 33%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Poughkeepsie.
- Jan 36° 18°
- Feb 39° 20°
- Mar 48° 27°
- Apr 61° 38°
- May 71° 48°
- Jun 80° 57°
- Jul 85° 62°
- Aug 83° 61°
- Sep 75° 53°
- Oct 63° 41°
- Nov 51° 32°
- Dec 41° 24°
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 Poughkeepsie each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.33 in), the least in February (2.21 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 | 36°F | 18°F | 27.1°F | 2.82 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 20°F | 29.2°F | 2.21 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 48°F | 27°F | 37.6°F | 3.09 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 38°F | 49.0°F | 3.62 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 48°F | 59.5°F | 3.47 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 57°F | 68.4°F | 3.91 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 62°F | 73.6°F | 3.78 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 61°F | 71.7°F | 4.28 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 4.33 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 41°F | 52.2°F | 3.73 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 32°F | 41.5°F | 3.27 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 41°F | 24°F | 32.1°F | 3.39 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 40°F | 50.5°F | 41.90 | 132 | 19 | 135 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 72 mm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.6°C | 56 mm |
| March | 9°C | −3°C | 3.1°C | 78 mm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 92 mm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 88 mm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 99 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 96 mm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 109 mm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 110 mm |
| October | 17°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 95 mm |
| November | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 83 mm |
| December | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 86 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Stormville (10 miles away), gets 58 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014757; 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 Poughkeepsie?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USW00014757.
When is the last frost in Poughkeepsie?
In Poughkeepsie, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before October 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
- April 301 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 168 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 194 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Poughkeepsie in zone 6b in ZIP code 12601. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Poughkeepsie's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014757; 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 Poughkeepsie?
In a normal year in Poughkeepsie, 19 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 135 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 132 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 135a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 27high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 132a normal year
The highest temperature in Poughkeepsie's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1931) is 104°F, on August 1, 1933; the lowest is −30°F, on January 21, 1961.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 62.01 in; the snowiest season is 1966–67, with 94.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014757; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record POUthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Poughkeepsie, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 61°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 63°F; the driest air comes in January (17°F). March is the windiest month (6.2 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (70%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°F | 64% | 48% | 5.6 mph | 58% | 30% |
| February | 21°F | 63% | 47% | 6.1 mph | 53% | 35% |
| March | 29°F | 60% | 43% | 6.2 mph | 54% | 34% |
| April | 40°F | 60% | 41% | 5.4 mph | – | – |
| May | 54°F | 69% | 49% | 4.7 mph | 61% | 26% |
| June | 61°F | 69% | 49% | 4.1 mph | – | – |
| July | 63°F | 71% | 50% | 3.8 mph | 70% | 14% |
| August | 60°F | 73% | 50% | 3.6 mph | 69% | 19% |
| September | 51°F | 76% | 53% | 3.9 mph | 61% | 24% |
| October | 38°F | 70% | 50% | 4.9 mph | 59% | 26% |
| November | 28°F | 70% | 55% | 5.2 mph | – | – |
| December | 21°F | 69% | 56% | 5.3 mph | 54% | 35% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014757. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Poughkeepsie?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Poughkeepsie, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 1.8 |
| February | 70% | 2.7 |
| March | 68% | 3.7 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.3 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 70% | 2.0 |
| December | 65% | 1.5 |
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 Poughkeepsie need?
A normal year in Poughkeepsie brings 5,995 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 745 cooling degree days, 18% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,954 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,175 | 0 |
| February | 1,002 | 0 |
| March | 848 | 0 |
| April | 484 | 5 |
| May | 206 | 35 |
| June | 36 | 139 |
| July | 3 | 268 |
| August | 8 | 217 |
| September | 107 | 74 |
| October | 403 | 6 |
| November | 705 | 0 |
| December | 1,018 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,995 | 745 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014757. 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 Poughkeepsie been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.2°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.3°F | +1.8°F | 43.74 |
| 2022 | 51.7°F | +1.2°F | 35.24 |
| 2023 | 52.8°F | +2.3°F | 50.04 |
| 2024 | 53.0°F | +2.5°F | 39.60 |
| 2025 | 51.2°F | +0.7°F | 37.93 |
Over 65 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.5°F per century (+0.36°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014757; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Poughkeepsie's climate compare?
Poughkeepsie is warmer than 108 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 51. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.5°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Poughkeepsie is Dfa: continental, 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 Poughkeepsie share this climate record?
22 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.
- Myers Corner, NY10,786 people · 3 mi S
- Fairview, NY6,454 people · 7 mi N
- Highland, NY6,321 people · 8 mi NW
- Wappingers Falls, NY6,070 people · 3 mi SW
- Spackenkill, NY4,244 people · 2 mi NW
- Marlboro, NY3,959 people · 5 mi W
- Vassar College, NY3,276 people · 4 mi N
- Red Oaks Mill, NY3,235 people · 2 mi N
- Crown Heights, NY3,071 people · 3 mi NW
- Brinckerhoff, NY2,688 people · 5 mi S
- Arlington, NY2,522 people · 5 mi N
- Marist College, NY2,300 people · 7 mi N
- Fishkill, NY2,146 people · 6 mi S
- Merritt Park, NY1,723 people · 6 mi S
- Milton, NY1,692 people · 5 mi NW
- MacDonnell Heights, NY1,438 people · 6 mi N
- Hopewell Junction, NY1,113 people · 5 mi SE
- New Hackensack, NY1,077 people · 1 mi E
- Hillside Lake, NY1,073 people · 5 mi E
- New Hamburg, NY728 people · 4 mi SW
- Titusville, NY658 people · 3 mi N
- Freedom Plains, NY648 people · 5 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Poughkeepsie's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Poughkeepsie. This page uses Poughkeepsie/Hudson Valley Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poughkeepsie station USC00306820 | 2 mi N | 251 ft | 50.5°F | 19°F | 83°F | 47.2 | – | April 21 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Poughkeepsie's climate
What is the coldest month in Poughkeepsie?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Poughkeepsie?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Poughkeepsie's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Stormville (10 miles away), records 58 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Poughkeepsie?
September, with 4.33 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Poughkeepsie in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Poughkeepsie in zone 6b in ZIP code 12601. By the same method at Poughkeepsie's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Poughkeepsie?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Poughkeepsie in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Stormville, NY10 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Millbrook, NY13 miles from this station, 48.6°F a year
- Walden, NY16 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Carmel, NY16 miles from this station, 48.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made