Rocky Mount, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rocky Mount's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 44.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.8°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,127 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRocky Mount Wilson Airport
- Station IDUSW00093759
- Location35.85°N 77.89°W
- Elevation160 ft (49 m)
- Population54,541
On October 14, the normal high in Rocky Mount is 74°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rocky Mount.
- Jan 52° 31°
- Feb 55° 33°
- Mar 63° 39°
- Apr 73° 48°
- May 80° 56°
- Jun 87° 65°
- Jul 91° 69°
- Aug 88° 68°
- Sep 83° 62°
- Oct 73° 50°
- Nov 63° 39°
- Dec 55° 34°
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 Rocky Mount each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.92 in), the least in February (2.87 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 | 41.3°F | 3.51 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 33°F | 43.9°F | 2.87 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 39°F | 51.0°F | 3.97 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 48°F | 60.0°F | 3.61 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 56°F | 68.1°F | 2.92 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 65°F | 75.8°F | 3.90 | 11 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 69°F | 79.7°F | 4.59 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 68°F | 78.0°F | 4.92 | 12 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 62°F | 72.2°F | 4.91 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 50°F | 61.5°F | 3.16 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 39°F | 50.9°F | 3.09 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 34°F | 44.1°F | 2.93 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 49°F | 60.5°F | 44.38 | 128 | 54 | 69 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −1°C | 5.2°C | 89 mm |
| February | 13°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 73 mm |
| March | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 101 mm |
| April | 23°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 92 mm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 74 mm |
| June | 31°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 99 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.5°C | 117 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 125 mm |
| September | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 125 mm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 80 mm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.5°C | 78 mm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 74 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Wilson (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 USW00093759; 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 Rocky Mount?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USW00093759.
When is the last frost in Rocky Mount?
In Rocky Mount, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 1 in half of years and after April 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 5 in half of years and before October 25 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 11 year in 10 after April 16; 9 in 10 after March 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 51 year in 10 before October 25; 9 in 10 before November 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 219 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 241 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 21 in half of springs and before November 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rocky Mount in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 27804, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rocky Mount's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (18 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093759; 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 Rocky Mount ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Rocky Mount's 3 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 Rocky Mount?
In a normal year in Rocky Mount, 54 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 69 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 128 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 54a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 69a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 128a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 2000) is 106°F, on August 9, 2007; the lowest is 0°F, on January 7, 2018.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2020, with 66.18 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093759; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093759. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rocky Mount?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rocky Mount, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%). 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% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 Rocky Mount need?
A normal year in Rocky Mount brings 3,271 heating degree days, 39% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,681 cooling degree days, 85% 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 4,867 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 735 | 0 |
| February | 591 | 2 |
| March | 444 | 8 |
| April | 195 | 45 |
| May | 51 | 149 |
| June | 2 | 327 |
| July | 0 | 457 |
| August | 0 | 403 |
| September | 13 | 229 |
| October | 163 | 54 |
| November | 428 | 5 |
| December | 649 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 3,271 | 1,681 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093759. 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 Rocky Mount been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.2°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 60.5°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.2°F | +1.7°F | 44.56 |
| 2023 | 63.0°F | +2.5°F | 41.35 |
| 2024 | 63.0°F | +2.5°F | 48.90 |
| 2025 | 61.2°F | +0.7°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093759. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rocky Mount's climate compare?
Rocky Mount is warmer than 76 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.5°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount 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.
- Nashville, NC5,850 people · 9 mi NW
- Red Oak, NC3,480 people · 14 mi N
- Sharpsburg, NC1,774 people · 4 mi E
- Spring Hope, NC1,358 people · 14 mi NW
- Elm City, NC1,223 people · 4 mi SE
- Dortches, NC1,083 people · 11 mi N
- Momeyer, NC286 people · 11 mi NW
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 Rocky Mount's climate
What is the coldest month in Rocky Mount?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Rocky Mount?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Rocky Mount's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Wilson (12 miles away), records 2 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Rocky Mount?
August, with 4.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rocky Mount in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rocky Mount in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 27804, the largest). By the same method at Rocky Mount's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Rocky Mount?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 1; in one year in ten it comes after April 16. Waiting until April 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Rocky Mount in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wilson, NC12 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Rocky Mount (8 mi ESE), NC12 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Tarboro, NC20 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Louisburg, NC29 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made