Richardson, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Richardson's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 41.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.8°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 35°C, 1,065 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRichardson
- Station IDUSC00417588
- Location33.00°N 96.74°W
- Elevation678 ft (207 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population118,221
On October 23, the normal high in Richardson is 75°F and the normal low 53°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 Richardson.
- Jan 56° 36°
- Feb 60° 40°
- Mar 69° 48°
- Apr 75° 55°
- May 83° 64°
- Jun 90° 71°
- Jul 94° 75°
- Aug 95° 75°
- Sep 87° 67°
- Oct 78° 56°
- Nov 66° 46°
- Dec 57° 38°
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 Richardson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in October (5.26 in), the least in July (2.22 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 | 56°F | 36°F | 45.8°F | 2.78 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 40°F | 49.8°F | 3.37 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 48°F | 58.1°F | 3.56 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 75°F | 55°F | 65.1°F | 3.52 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 64°F | 73.1°F | 5.18 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 90°F | 71°F | 80.6°F | 3.83 | 7 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 94°F | 75°F | 84.8°F | 2.22 | 5 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 95°F | 75°F | 84.7°F | 2.48 | 5 | 27 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 87°F | 67°F | 77.2°F | 3.30 | 6 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 78°F | 56°F | 66.8°F | 5.26 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 46°F | 55.9°F | 3.04 | 7 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 38°F | 47.6°F | 3.37 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 56°F | 65.8°F | 41.91 | 87 | 93 | 35 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 71 mm |
| February | 16°C | 4°C | 9.9°C | 86 mm |
| March | 20°C | 9°C | 14.5°C | 90 mm |
| April | 24°C | 13°C | 18.4°C | 89 mm |
| May | 28°C | 18°C | 22.8°C | 132 mm |
| June | 32°C | 22°C | 27.0°C | 97 mm |
| July | 35°C | 24°C | 29.3°C | 56 mm |
| August | 35°C | 24°C | 29.3°C | 63 mm |
| September | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 84 mm |
| October | 25°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 134 mm |
| November | 19°C | 8°C | 13.3°C | 77 mm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 86 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Dallas Love Field (12 miles away), gets 2 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417588; 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 Richardson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00417588.
When is the last frost in Richardson?
In Richardson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 7 in half of years and after March 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 21 in half of years and before November 2 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 71 year in 10 after March 29; 9 in 10 after February 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 211 year in 10 before November 2; 9 in 10 before December 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 259 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 288 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 24 in half of springs and before December 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richardson in zone 8b across its 3 ZIP code areas (8b in 75080, the largest).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00417588; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Richardson ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Richardson's 3 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8b. 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 Richardson?
In a normal year in Richardson, 93 days a year reach 90°F (15 of them 100°F or more), 35 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 93a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 35a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00417588.
How sunny is Richardson?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Richardson, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (68%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 176th (with 33 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.9 |
| February | 68% | 3.3 |
| March | 72% | 4.4 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 5.8 |
| June | 84% | 6.7 |
| July | 88% | 6.7 |
| August | 87% | 6.2 |
| September | 84% | 5.2 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 76% | 3.1 |
| December | 73% | 2.6 |
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 Richardson need?
A normal year in Richardson brings 2,294 heating degree days, 57% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,612 cooling degree days, 2.9 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,359 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 595 | 2 |
| February | 433 | 6 |
| March | 247 | 31 |
| April | 90 | 93 |
| May | 13 | 264 |
| June | 0 | 468 |
| July | 0 | 614 |
| August | 0 | 609 |
| September | 3 | 369 |
| October | 78 | 134 |
| November | 295 | 20 |
| December | 542 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,294 | 2,612 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417588. 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 Richardson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 68.3°F, 2.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 65.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65.5°F | −0.3°F | 50.29 |
| 2022 | 66.3°F | +0.5°F | 43.57 |
| 2023 | 68.5°F | +2.7°F | 32.91 |
| 2024 | 69.2°F | +3.4°F | 47.40 |
| 2025 | 68.3°F | +2.5°F | 39.44 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00417588. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Richardson's climate compare?
Richardson is warmer than 164 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 241. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 65.8°F is warmer than 90%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Richardson 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 Richardson share this climate record?
9 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.
- Plano, TXalso near: McKinney (13 mi, 65.0°F a year); McKinney Municipal Airport (13 mi, 64.9°F a year)293,286 people · 4 mi N
- Garland, TXalso near: Lavon (12 mi, 64.2°F a year); Dallas Love Field (14 mi, 68.0°F a year)250,431 people · 9 mi SE
- Frisco, TXalso near: McKinney (14 mi, 65.0°F a year); McKinney Municipal Airport (14 mi, 64.9°F a year)235,208 people · 12 mi NW
- Carrollton, TXalso near: Dallas (9 mi, 66.6°F a year); Grapevine (9 mi, 65.4°F a year)135,456 people · 9 mi W
- The Colony, TX45,897 people · 11 mi NW
- Addison, TX17,257 people · 6 mi SW
- Parker, TX6,332 people · 8 mi NE
- Hackberry, TX2,959 people · 15 mi NW
- Hebron, TX219 people · 9 mi W
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 Richardson's climate
What is the coldest month in Richardson?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 75°F at night).
Does it snow in Richardson?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Richardson's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Dallas Love Field (12 miles away), records 2 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Richardson?
October, with 5.26 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 2.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Richardson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Richardson in zone 8b across its 3 ZIP code areas (8b in 75080, the largest).
How late can frost come in Richardson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 7; in one year in ten it comes after March 29. Waiting until March 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Richardson in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Dallas Love Field, TX12 miles from this station, 68.0°F a year
- Lavon, TX15 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- McKinney, TX16 miles from this station, 65.0°F a year
- McKinney Municipal Airport, TX16 miles from this station, 64.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made