Purcellville, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Purcellville's normal year runs from 25°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 43.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.3°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,112 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPurcellville
- Station IDUSC00444909
- Location39.14°N 77.71°W
- Elevation510 ft (155 m)
- Population8,965
On October 23, the normal high in Purcellville is 64°F and the normal low 42°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Purcellville.
- Jan 41° 25°
- Feb 44° 26°
- Mar 53° 32°
- Apr 65° 42°
- May 73° 52°
- Jun 81° 61°
- Jul 86° 66°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 78° 56°
- Oct 66° 44°
- Nov 55° 35°
- Dec 45° 28°
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 Purcellville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.77 in), the least in February (2.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 25°F | 32.8°F | 3.05 | – | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 26°F | 35.0°F | 2.56 | – | <1 | 22 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 32°F | 42.5°F | 3.61 | – | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 42°F | 53.4°F | 3.54 | – | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 52°F | 62.2°F | 4.35 | – | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 61°F | 71.2°F | 4.25 | – | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 86°F | 66°F | 76.0°F | 4.08 | – | 12 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.3°F | 3.57 | – | 8 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 56°F | 66.9°F | 4.77 | – | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 44°F | 55.3°F | 3.52 | – | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 35°F | 44.7°F | 3.13 | – | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| December | 45°F | 28°F | 36.5°F | 3.35 | – | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 44°F | 54.2°F | 43.78 | – | 30 | 115 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −4°C | 0.4°C | 77 mm |
| February | 7°C | −3°C | 1.7°C | 65 mm |
| March | 11°C | 0°C | 5.8°C | 92 mm |
| April | 18°C | 6°C | 11.9°C | 90 mm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.8°C | 110 mm |
| June | 27°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 108 mm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.4°C | 104 mm |
| August | 29°C | 18°C | 23.5°C | 91 mm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 121 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 89 mm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 80 mm |
| December | 7°C | −2°C | 2.5°C | 85 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Sterling (19 miles away), gets 21 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00444909; 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 Purcellville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October.
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 USC00444909.
When is the last frost in Purcellville?
In Purcellville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 7 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 161 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 189 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 215 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 2 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Purcellville in zone 7a in ZIP code 20132, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Purcellville's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00444909; 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 Purcellville?
In a normal year in Purcellville, 30 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more) and 115 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 30a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 115a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 12high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1900) is 109°F, on July 10, 1936; the lowest is −13°F, on January 31, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 66.55 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 76.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00444909; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00444909. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Purcellville?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Purcellville, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.0 |
| February | 68% | 2.8 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 71% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.4 |
| June | 77% | 6.1 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 3.1 |
| November | 72% | 2.3 |
| December | 66% | 1.7 |
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 Purcellville need?
A normal year in Purcellville brings 4,942 heating degree days, 8% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,050 cooling degree days, 16% more 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 3,557 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,000 | 0 |
| February | 841 | 0 |
| March | 700 | 1 |
| April | 362 | 13 |
| May | 147 | 61 |
| June | 20 | 207 |
| July | 1 | 340 |
| August | 3 | 291 |
| September | 63 | 122 |
| October | 316 | 15 |
| November | 610 | 1 |
| December | 882 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,942 | 1,050 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00444909. 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 Purcellville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.7°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.0°F | +1.8°F | 37.36 |
| 2022 | 54.5°F | +0.3°F | 44.90 |
| 2023 | 56.3°F | +2.1°F | – |
| 2024 | 56.7°F | +2.5°F | – |
| 2025 | 54.7°F | +0.5°F | – |
Over 80 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00444909; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Purcellville's climate compare?
Purcellville is warmer than 24 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 24. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.2°F is warmer than 58%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Purcellville 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 Purcellville share this climate record?
11 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.
- Leesburg, VA49,831 people · 8 mi E
- Brunswick, MD9,015 people · 13 mi N
- Charles, WV8,869 people · 12 mi NW
- Shannondale, WV3,441 people · 7 mi NW
- Point of Rocks, MD2,333 people · 13 mi NE
- Round Hill, VA687 people · 3 mi W
- Hamilton, VA607 people · 2 mi E
- Rosemont, MD269 people · 14 mi N
- Waterford, VA243 people · 6 mi NE
- Sandy Hook, MD196 people · 13 mi N
- Hillsboro, VA110 people · 4 mi N
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 Purcellville's climate
What is the coldest month in Purcellville?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Purcellville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Purcellville's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Sterling (19 miles away), records 21 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Purcellville?
September, with 4.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Purcellville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Purcellville in zone 7a in ZIP code 20132, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Purcellville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Purcellville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Mount Weather, VA11 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Weather Office Sterling, VA17 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Sharpsburg, MD17 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Sterling, VA19 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made