Reading, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Reading's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 45.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,148 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationReading Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00014712
- Location40.37°N 75.97°W
- Elevation341 ft (104 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population96,000
On October 22, the normal high in Reading is 63°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Reading.
- Jan 39° 23°
- Feb 42° 24°
- Mar 51° 32°
- Apr 63° 42°
- May 74° 52°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 84° 64°
- Sep 77° 57°
- Oct 65° 45°
- Nov 54° 35°
- Dec 43° 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 Reading each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.88 in), the least in February (2.61 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 | 39°F | 23°F | 30.8°F | 2.97 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 24°F | 33.1°F | 2.61 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 32°F | 41.5°F | 3.53 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 42°F | 52.5°F | 3.35 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 3.51 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.6°F | 4.77 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.1°F | 4.77 | 11 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 64°F | 74.3°F | 4.49 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 57°F | 66.9°F | 4.88 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 45°F | 55.2°F | 3.80 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 35°F | 44.6°F | 3.02 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 28°F | 35.7°F | 3.51 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 44°F | 53.7°F | 45.21 | 129 | 24 | 107 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −5°C | −0.7°C | 75 mm |
| February | 5°C | −4°C | 0.6°C | 66 mm |
| March | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 90 mm |
| April | 17°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 85 mm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 89 mm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.0°C | 121 mm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.5°C | 121 mm |
| August | 29°C | 18°C | 23.5°C | 114 mm |
| September | 25°C | 14°C | 19.4°C | 124 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 97 mm |
| November | 12°C | 2°C | 7.0°C | 77 mm |
| December | 6°C | −2°C | 2.1°C | 89 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Hamburg (13 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 USW00014712; 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 Reading?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00014712.
When is the last frost in Reading?
In Reading, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 14 in half of years and after April 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 13 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 141 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 197 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 221 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Reading in zone 7a across its 4 ZIP code areas (7a in 19601, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Reading's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014712; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Reading ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Reading's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Reading?
In a normal year in Reading, 24 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 107 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 129 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 24a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 107a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 20high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 129a normal year
The highest temperature in Reading's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1888) is 106°F, on July 22, 2011; the lowest is −14°F, on January 14, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 68.74 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 82.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014712; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record RDGthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Reading?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Reading, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (63%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 385th (with 30 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.9 |
| February | 68% | 2.7 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.3 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 77% | 5.2 |
| September | 75% | 4.2 |
| October | 69% | 3.0 |
| November | 70% | 2.1 |
| December | 63% | 1.6 |
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 Reading need?
A normal year in Reading brings 5,127 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,056 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 3,538 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,060 | 0 |
| February | 892 | 0 |
| March | 731 | 0 |
| April | 385 | 11 |
| May | 142 | 64 |
| June | 17 | 215 |
| July | 0 | 346 |
| August | 3 | 289 |
| September | 60 | 115 |
| October | 319 | 15 |
| November | 612 | 0 |
| December | 908 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,127 | 1,056 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014712. 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 Reading been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.9°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.7°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.8°F | +2.1°F | 42.34 |
| 2022 | 55.0°F | +1.3°F | 42.82 |
| 2023 | 56.4°F | +2.7°F | 46.54 |
| 2024 | 56.9°F | +3.2°F | 41.58 |
| 2025 | 54.9°F | +1.2°F | 43.54 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014712. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Reading's climate compare?
Reading is warmer than 99 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 64. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.7°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Reading 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 Reading share this climate record?
39 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.
- Wyomissing, PA11,292 people · 2 mi S
- Blandon, PA7,546 people · 7 mi NE
- Shillington, PA5,533 people · 4 mi S
- Pennside, PA5,406 people · 5 mi SE
- Whitfield, PA5,346 people · 3 mi SW
- Lorane, PA4,633 people · 8 mi SE
- West Reading, PA4,600 people · 2 mi SE
- Laureldale, PA4,344 people · 3 mi NE
- Jacksonwald, PA4,201 people · 7 mi E
- Reiffton, PA4,114 people · 7 mi SE
- Riverview Park, PA3,647 people · 2 mi NE
- Mount Penn, PA3,275 people · 5 mi SE
- West Wyomissing, PA3,263 people · 3 mi SW
- Kenhorst, PA3,034 people · 4 mi S
- Mohnton, PA2,949 people · 6 mi S
- Hyde Park, PA2,649 people · 2 mi E
- Temple, PA2,335 people · 4 mi NE
- Grill, PA2,042 people · 5 mi S
- Leesport, PA1,972 people · 5 mi N
- St. Lawrence, PA1,962 people · 6 mi SE
- South Temple, PA1,821 people · 3 mi NE
- Lincoln Park, PA1,778 people · 4 mi S
- Flying Hills, PA1,663 people · 7 mi SE
- Fox Chase, PA1,557 people · 2 mi N
- Springmont, PA1,552 people · 3 mi SW
- Oley, PA1,232 people · 10 mi E
- West Lawn, PA1,213 people · 3 mi SW
- Muhlenberg Park, PA1,179 people · 2 mi NE
- Colony Park, PA1,125 people · 1 mi SW
- Greenfields, PA872 people · 1 mi SE
- Stony Creek Mills, PA866 people · 6 mi E
- Penn State Berks, PA852 people · 1 mi SW
- Spring Ridge, PA791 people · 1 mi SW
- Gouglersville, PA662 people · 7 mi S
- Gibraltar, PA609 people · 8 mi SE
- Montrose Manor, PA496 people · 4 mi S
- Pennwyn, PA482 people · 5 mi S
- Walnuttown, PA472 people · 9 mi NE
- Alsace Manor, PA275 people · 6 mi E
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 Reading's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Reading. This page uses Reading Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading (4 mi NNW) USC00367322 | 6 mi N | 360 ft | 53.9°F | 23°F | 86°F | – | – | April 10 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Reading's climate
What is the coldest month in Reading?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Reading?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Reading's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Hamburg (13 miles away), records 21 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Reading?
September, with 4.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Reading in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Reading in zone 7a across its 4 ZIP code areas (7a in 19601, the largest). By the same method at Reading's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Reading?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 14; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Reading in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Blue Marsh Lake, PA3 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Hamburg, PA13 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Hopewell Morgantown, PA15 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Rodale Research Center, PA18 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made