Richlands, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Richlands's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 44.6 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.9°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,133 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRichlands
- Station IDUSC00447174
- Location37.09°N 81.79°W
- Elevation1,910 ft (582 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,074
On October 22, the normal high in Richlands is 66°F and the normal low 38°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 Richlands.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 48° 25°
- Mar 56° 31°
- Apr 66° 39°
- May 74° 49°
- Jun 80° 57°
- Jul 83° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 68° 41°
- Nov 57° 31°
- Dec 48° 26°
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 Richlands each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.75 in), the least in October (2.72 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 23°F | 33.4°F | 3.35 | 6.3 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 25°F | 36.5°F | 3.28 | 4.4 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 56°F | 31°F | 43.2°F | 4.02 | 2.9 | 13 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 39°F | 52.5°F | 3.98 | 0.3 | 13 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 49°F | 61.3°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 80°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 83°F | 62°F | 72.3°F | 4.75 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.4°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.7°F | 3.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 2.72 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 31°F | 44.0°F | 2.77 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 26°F | 36.8°F | 3.78 | 3.4 | 13 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 44.60 | 17.6 | 144 | 6 | 126 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −5°C | 0.8°C | 85 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 9°C | −4°C | 2.5°C | 83 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 13°C | −1°C | 6.2°C | 102 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 19°C | 4°C | 11.4°C | 101 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.3°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 70 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 9°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 96 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00447174; 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 Richlands?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00447174.
When is the last frost in Richlands?
In Richlands, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 5 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 271 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richlands in zone 7a in ZIP code 24641. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Richlands's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (25 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 USC00447174; 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 Richlands?
In a normal year in Richlands, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 126 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 144 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 126a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 144a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00447174.
How sunny is Richlands?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Richlands, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and February the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 2.0 |
| February | 60% | 2.7 |
| March | 65% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 5.0 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 74% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.5 |
| October | 71% | 3.4 |
| November | 71% | 2.5 |
| December | 61% | 1.8 |
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 Richlands need?
A normal year in Richlands brings 4,929 heating degree days, 8% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 720 cooling degree days, 21% 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 3,209 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 980 | 0 |
| February | 799 | 0 |
| March | 674 | 0 |
| April | 380 | 4 |
| May | 156 | 43 |
| June | 24 | 141 |
| July | 3 | 231 |
| August | 4 | 204 |
| September | 67 | 90 |
| October | 340 | 8 |
| November | 629 | 0 |
| December | 873 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,929 | 720 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00447174. 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 Richlands been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.7°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.8°F | +0.4°F | 42.39 | 7.7 |
| 2022 | 53.1°F | −0.3°F | 45.60 | 16.8 |
| 2023 | 54.7°F | +1.3°F | 39.92 | 2.9 |
| 2024 | 55.3°F | +1.9°F | 46.10 | 13.1 |
| 2025 | 53.7°F | +0.3°F | 51.77 | 15.9 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00447174. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Richlands's climate compare?
Richlands is warmer than 14 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 30. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.4°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Richlands 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 Richlands 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.
- Raven, VA1,826 people · 4 mi W
- Claypool Hill, VA1,332 people · 3 mi SE
- Cedar Bluff, VA1,014 people · 2 mi E
- War, WV546 people · 16 mi NE
- Raysal, WV299 people · 17 mi N
- Pounding Mill, VA235 people · 5 mi E
- Berwind, WV228 people · 14 mi NE
- Cucumber, WV62 people · 16 mi NE
- Jewell Ridge, VA48 people · 6 mi N
- Bartley, WV23 people · 17 mi N
- Doran, VA13 people · 2 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 Richlands's climate
What is the coldest month in Richlands?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Richlands?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Richlands?
July, with 4.75 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Richlands in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Richlands in zone 7a in ZIP code 24641. By the same method at Richlands's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Richlands?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; 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
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Saltville, VA14 miles from this station, 53.9°F a year
- Lebanon, VA19 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Grundy, VA21 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Burkes Garden, VA25 miles from this station, 49.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made