Rock Hill, South Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rock Hill's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 42.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.1°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,076 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRock Hill York County Airport
- Station IDUSW00053871
- Location34.99°N 81.06°W
- Elevation669 ft (204 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population75,798
On October 14, the normal high in Rock Hill is 74°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 33%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rock Hill.
- Jan 52° 31°
- Feb 57° 34°
- Mar 64° 40°
- Apr 74° 48°
- May 80° 57°
- Jun 87° 66°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 68°
- Sep 83° 62°
- Oct 73° 49°
- Nov 63° 39°
- Dec 55° 33°
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 Rock Hill each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.02 in), the least in October (3.01 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 | 52°F | 31°F | 41.6°F | 3.47 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 34°F | 45.1°F | 3.15 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 64°F | 40°F | 52.3°F | 3.78 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 48°F | 60.7°F | 3.55 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 57°F | 68.6°F | 3.16 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 66°F | 76.4°F | 3.97 | 11 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.8°F | 4.02 | 12 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 68°F | 78.4°F | 3.98 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 62°F | 72.4°F | 3.42 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 49°F | 61.3°F | 3.01 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 39°F | 50.9°F | 3.25 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 3.62 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 50°F | 61.0°F | 42.38 | 125 | 55 | 65 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 88 mm |
| February | 14°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 80 mm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 96 mm |
| April | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 90 mm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 80 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 101 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 102 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.8°C | 101 mm |
| September | 28°C | 17°C | 22.4°C | 87 mm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 76 mm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.5°C | 83 mm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 92 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Charlotte (17 miles away), gets 4 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053871; 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 Rock Hill?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April 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 USW00053871.
When is the last frost in Rock Hill?
In Rock Hill, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 15 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
- March 311 year in 10 after April 15; 9 in 10 after March 13
- 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 218 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 243 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 18 in half of springs and before November 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rock Hill in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 29730, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rock Hill's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053871; 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 Rock Hill ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Rock Hill's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8a. 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 Rock Hill?
In a normal year in Rock Hill, 55 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 65 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 125 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 55a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 65a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 125a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1999) is 104°F, on July 31, 1999; the lowest is 3°F, on February 2, 2026.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2024, with 58.45 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053871; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00053871. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rock Hill?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rock Hill, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (71%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 210th (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.7 |
| February | 71% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.4 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 79% | 3.9 |
| November | 79% | 3.0 |
| December | 73% | 2.4 |
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 Rock Hill need?
A normal year in Rock Hill brings 3,141 heating degree days, 42% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,706 cooling degree days, 88% 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 4,934 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 724 | 0 |
| February | 559 | 1 |
| March | 402 | 8 |
| April | 170 | 42 |
| May | 40 | 153 |
| June | 1 | 343 |
| July | 0 | 457 |
| August | 0 | 415 |
| September | 14 | 235 |
| October | 159 | 46 |
| November | 427 | 4 |
| December | 646 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,141 | 1,706 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053871. 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 Rock Hill been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 62.0°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.0°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61.8°F | +0.8°F | 31.97 |
| 2022 | 61.5°F | +0.5°F | 31.54 |
| 2024 | 62.0°F | +1.0°F | 58.45 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053871. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rock Hill's climate compare?
Rock Hill is warmer than 10 of the other 72 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 2. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.0°F is warmer than 77%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rock Hill 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 Rock Hill share this climate record?
4 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.
- Pineville, NC11,567 people · 12 mi NE
- Newport, SC4,142 people · 1 mi NW
- India Hook, SC3,794 people · 3 mi NE
- Riverview, SC2,215 people · 4 mi NE
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 Rock Hill's climate
What is the coldest month in Rock Hill?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Rock Hill?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Rock Hill's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Charlotte (17 miles away), records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Rock Hill?
July, with 4.02 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rock Hill in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rock Hill in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 29730, the largest). By the same method at Rock Hill's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Rock Hill?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 15. Waiting until April 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Rock Hill in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Winthrop University, SC4 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- York, SC9 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Gastonia, NC16 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Charlotte, NC17 miles from this station, 61.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made