Rockford, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rockford's normal year runs from 35°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 60.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.9°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,529 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRockford (3 mi ESE)
- Station IDUSC00017020
- Location32.87°N 86.18°W
- Elevation600 ft (183 m)
- Population349
On October 23, the normal high in Rockford is 71°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rockford.
- Jan 55° 35°
- Feb 60° 38°
- Mar 67° 43°
- Apr 75° 50°
- May 81° 58°
- Jun 86° 66°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 87° 69°
- Sep 83° 64°
- Oct 74° 53°
- Nov 64° 42°
- Dec 57° 37°
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 Rockford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.93 in), the least in October (3.60 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 35°F | 44.6°F | 5.72 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 38°F | 48.6°F | 5.79 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 43°F | 55.4°F | 5.93 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 12 h |
| April | 75°F | 50°F | 62.3°F | 5.19 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 4.78 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 86°F | 66°F | 75.9°F | 4.54 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 79.0°F | 5.33 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 87°F | 69°F | 77.9°F | 5.07 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 83°F | 64°F | 73.4°F | 3.79 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 53°F | 63.2°F | 3.60 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 64°F | 42°F | 53.1°F | 4.97 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 37°F | 46.9°F | 5.48 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 60.19 | 104 | 46 | 46 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 7.0°C | 145 mm |
| February | 15°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 147 mm |
| March | 20°C | 6°C | 13.0°C | 151 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 132 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 121 mm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.4°C | 115 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 135 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.5°C | 129 mm |
| September | 28°C | 18°C | 23.0°C | 96 mm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 91 mm |
| November | 18°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 126 mm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.3°C | 139 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Alexander City (14 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00017020; 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 Rockford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00017020.
When is the last frost in Rockford?
In Rockford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 25 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 28 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 251 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 28; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 230 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 258 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 11 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rockford in zone 8a in ZIP code 35136, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rockford's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00017020; 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 Rockford?
In a normal year in Rockford, 46 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 46 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 46a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1954) is 107°F, on August 7, 1956; the lowest is −6°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 86.01 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 8.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00017020; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00017020. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rockford?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rockford, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.8 |
| February | 69% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 81% | 6.3 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.2 |
| December | 70% | 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 Rockford need?
A normal year in Rockford brings 2,611 heating degree days, 51% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,724 cooling degree days, 90% 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 5,212 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 633 | 1 |
| February | 461 | 2 |
| March | 311 | 13 |
| April | 126 | 45 |
| May | 28 | 172 |
| June | 1 | 326 |
| July | 0 | 432 |
| August | 0 | 401 |
| September | 5 | 259 |
| October | 120 | 64 |
| November | 364 | 8 |
| December | 564 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 2,611 | 1,724 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00017020. 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.
How does Rockford's climate compare?
Rockford is warmer than 29 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 57. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.5°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rockford 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 Rockford share this climate record?
7 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.
- Holtville, AL5,700 people · 19 mi SW
- Ray, AL488 people · 8 mi E
- Nixburg, AL414 people · 4 mi E
- Weogufka, AL246 people · 13 mi NW
- Hissop, AL215 people · 3 mi NE
- Hanover, AL163 people · 9 mi N
- Equality, AL139 people · 8 mi SE
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 Rockford's climate
What is the coldest month in Rockford?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Rockford?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Rockford's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Alexander City (14 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Rockford?
March, with 5.93 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.60 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rockford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rockford in zone 8a in ZIP code 35136, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rockford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Rockford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 25; in one year in ten it comes after April 13. Waiting until April 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alexander City, AL14 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Sylacauga, AL23 miles from this station, 61.7°F a year
- Clanton, AL25 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Thorsby, AL29 miles from this station, 62.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made