Richmond, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Richmond's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 45.5 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.0°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,156 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRichmond International Airport
- Station IDUSW00013740
- Location37.51°N 77.32°W
- Elevation164 ft (50 m)
- From the center9 miles
- Population233,655
On October 22, the normal high in Richmond is 69°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Richmond.
- Jan 48° 29°
- Feb 52° 30°
- Mar 60° 37°
- Apr 70° 46°
- May 78° 56°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 88° 68°
- Sep 81° 61°
- Oct 71° 49°
- Nov 60° 39°
- Dec 52° 32°
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 Richmond each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.90 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 29°F | 38.3°F | 3.23 | 3.7 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 30°F | 41.0°F | 2.61 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 37°F | 48.4°F | 4.00 | 1.1 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 46°F | 58.4°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 78°F | 56°F | 66.7°F | 4.00 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.0°F | 4.64 | 0.0 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.4°F | 4.37 | 0.0 | 11 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 88°F | 68°F | 77.5°F | 4.90 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 61°F | 71.2°F | 4.61 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 49°F | 60.0°F | 3.39 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 39°F | 49.6°F | 3.06 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 52°F | 32°F | 41.8°F | 3.51 | 1.8 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 48°F | 59.0°F | 45.50 | 8.8 | 119 | 45 | 74 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.5°C | 82 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 66 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 102 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 21°C | 8°C | 14.7°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.3°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 4°C | 9.8°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.4°C | 89 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013740; 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 Richmond?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00013740.
When is the last frost in Richmond?
In Richmond, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 3 in half of years and after April 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 23 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 31 year in 10 after April 18; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 23; 9 in 10 before November 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 215 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 239 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 22 in half of springs and before November 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richmond in zone 7b across its 13 ZIP code areas (7b in 23225, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Richmond's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (30 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 USW00013740; 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 Richmond ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Richmond's 13 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7b. 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 Richmond?
In a normal year in Richmond, 45 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 74 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 119 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 45a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 74a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 119a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in Richmond's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1897) is 107°F, on August 6, 1918; the lowest is −12°F, on January 29, 1940.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 63.73 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 38.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013740; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record RICthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Richmond, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 67°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 68°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (26°F). March is the windiest month (9.2 mph on average), and October has the most clear or nearly clear hours (46%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 60% | 43% | 8.2 mph | 39% | 36% |
| February | 31°F | 60% | 43% | 8.9 mph | 39% | 37% |
| March | 39°F | 57% | 39% | 9.2 mph | 36% | 35% |
| April | 49°F | 64% | 45% | 8.3 mph | 36% | 34% |
| May | 60°F | 69% | 50% | 7.3 mph | 34% | 29% |
| June | 66°F | 69% | 48% | 6.9 mph | 33% | 22% |
| July | 68°F | 72% | 52% | 6.4 mph | 35% | 25% |
| August | 65°F | 73% | 52% | 6.6 mph | 36% | 24% |
| September | 57°F | 73% | 52% | 6.8 mph | 44% | 26% |
| October | 44°F | 69% | 47% | 7.0 mph | 46% | 29% |
| November | 35°F | 65% | 46% | 7.4 mph | 45% | 30% |
| December | 30°F | 66% | 49% | 7.6 mph | 40% | 36% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013740. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Richmond?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Richmond, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and March the cloudiest (72%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 276th (with 27 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.4 |
| February | 72% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 4.1 |
| April | 74% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.7 |
| December | 72% | 2.1 |
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 Richmond need?
A normal year in Richmond brings 3,736 heating degree days, 30% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,561 cooling degree days, 72% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,543 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 828 | 0 |
| February | 672 | 0 |
| March | 519 | 5 |
| April | 235 | 37 |
| May | 72 | 126 |
| June | 6 | 308 |
| July | 0 | 445 |
| August | 0 | 389 |
| September | 22 | 206 |
| October | 197 | 40 |
| November | 465 | 3 |
| December | 720 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,736 | 1,561 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013740. 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 Richmond been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.0°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 59.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.4°F | +1.4°F | 47.25 | 6.0 |
| 2022 | 60.0°F | +1.0°F | 39.53 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | 61.3°F | +2.3°F | 43.47 | 0.2 |
| 2024 | 61.7°F | +2.7°F | 47.64 | 0.5 |
| 2025 | 59.0°F | at normal | 52.24 | 17.7 |
Over 105 complete years from 1912 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013740; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Richmond's climate compare?
Richmond is warmer than 69 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 34. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.0°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Richmond 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 Richmond 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.
- Meadowbrook, VA20,383 people · 10 mi SW
- Bon Air, VA17,302 people · 14 mi W
- East Highland Park, VA16,071 people · 6 mi NW
- Brandermill, VA13,938 people · 19 mi W
- Manchester, VA12,347 people · 12 mi W
- Rockwood, VA8,834 people · 14 mi W
- Montrose, VA8,624 people · 3 mi W
- Bellwood, VA8,489 people · 9 mi SW
- Bensley, VA5,819 people · 8 mi SW
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 Richmond's climate
What is the coldest month in Richmond?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Richmond?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 6 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Richmond?
August, with 4.90 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Richmond in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Richmond in zone 7b across its 13 ZIP code areas (7b in 23225, the largest). By the same method at Richmond's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Richmond?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 3; in one year in ten it comes after April 18. Waiting until April 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Richmond in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sandston, VA4 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Hopewell, VA14 miles from this station, 60.8°F a year
- Ashland, VA16 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Petersburg, VA19 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made