Radford, VA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Radford's primary NOAA station, RADFORD 3 N.
The climate verdict for Radford
Radford, Virginia has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 53°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 53°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 42.1"
- precipitation, annual total
- 175 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Radford: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00446999 · Radford, VA 53°F mean · 42.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 53°F
- RANK-MID #3,636
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Roy
- PRCP-MID 42.1"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,067 HDD
- STN-1 USC00446999
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Roy, NM (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every VA station list.
- Radford (this station) 53°F
- Cold Pulaski, VA 53°F
- Hot Montauk, NY 53°F
- Near Roy, NM 53°F
- Near Springer, NM 53°F
Climate Living Index · Radford
Radford: 58/100 · grade C
Radford publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Radford, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 42.1 in · 7.1 from 35 in | 75/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 129 calendar days | 59/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 52.9°F · 14.6° from 67.5°F | 52/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 175 days/year | 46/100 · D |
Radford · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Radford is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 32.5°F and warmest-month mean 72.5°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 72.5°F
- Coldest month
- 32.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Radford sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Radford's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 53rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 63rd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 36th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Radford compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Radford's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 3.2" | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 46°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.7" | 22.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 54°F (12°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 3.6" | 17.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 65°F (18°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 3.7" | 6.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.5" | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| June | 80°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 3.9" | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| October | 67°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.9" | 4.6 | 0.1 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 2.8" | 19.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 46°F (8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 3.3" | 22.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 8, short of 90°F on every date, while 129 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 22°F near January 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 19, then returns to freezing around November 12, covering 129 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
The widest day
October 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Radford.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Radford spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 22%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Radford has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 4.5" and February 2.7". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 18
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
175 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,067
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
702
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside VA closest to Radford on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (53°F here).
- Chambersburg, PA 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Concordia, KS 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Harrisville, WV 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Langlois, OR 53°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (42.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Warrensburg, MO 42.1" · 0.0" off
- Corsicana, TX 42.1" · 0.0" off
- Park Forest, IL 42.1" · 0.0" off
- York, PA 42.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Radford's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Radford's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,067 annual heating degree days against 702 for cooling. Its 40.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Radford's frost-free season lasts about 175 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Radford's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.0°F. The annual average is 53°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Radford's 42.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Radford's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Radford, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Radford's climate
How much rain does Radford get? ▼
How cold does Radford get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Radford? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Radford's primary station: RADFORD 3 N (USC00446999). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5165392). Match rule for Radford: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Radford comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.