Rusk, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rusk's normal year runs from 37°F January nights to 92°F August afternoons, with 50.1 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.1 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.3°C, January lows of 3°C, August highs of 33°C, 1,273 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRusk
- Station IDUSC00417841
- Location31.81°N 95.14°W
- Elevation695 ft (212 m)
- Population5,553
On October 23, the normal high in Rusk is 74°F and the normal low 54°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rusk.
- Jan 56° 37°
- Feb 60° 41°
- Mar 67° 47°
- Apr 74° 54°
- May 81° 63°
- Jun 87° 70°
- Jul 91° 72°
- Aug 92° 72°
- Sep 86° 67°
- Oct 76° 57°
- Nov 65° 47°
- Dec 58° 40°
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 Rusk each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 37°F. The most precipitation falls in December (4.88 in), the least in August (3.35 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 37°F | 46.4°F | 4.36 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 60°F | 41°F | 50.0°F | 4.26 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 47°F | 57.1°F | 4.46 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 54°F | 64.1°F | 4.04 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 63°F | 71.8°F | 4.58 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 87°F | 70°F | 78.5°F | 4.51 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 91°F | 72°F | 81.4°F | 3.38 | 6 | 21 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 92°F | 72°F | 81.8°F | 3.35 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 86°F | 67°F | 76.5°F | 3.67 | 7 | 11 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 76°F | 57°F | 66.6°F | 4.65 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 65°F | 47°F | 56.1°F | 3.98 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 40°F | 48.6°F | 4.88 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 56°F | 64.9°F | 50.12 | 93 | 69 | 27 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 3°C | 8.0°C | 111 mm |
| February | 15°C | 5°C | 10.0°C | 108 mm |
| March | 19°C | 8°C | 13.9°C | 113 mm |
| April | 23°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 103 mm |
| May | 27°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 116 mm |
| June | 31°C | 21°C | 25.8°C | 115 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.4°C | 86 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 85 mm |
| September | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 93 mm |
| October | 25°C | 14°C | 19.2°C | 118 mm |
| November | 19°C | 8°C | 13.4°C | 101 mm |
| December | 14°C | 4°C | 9.2°C | 124 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417841; 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 Rusk?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00417841.
When is the last frost in Rusk?
In Rusk, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 7 in half of years and after March 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 25 in half of years and before November 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
- March 71 year in 10 after March 29; 9 in 10 after February 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 251 year in 10 before November 5; 9 in 10 before December 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 263 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 292 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 23 in half of springs and before December 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rusk in zone 8b in ZIP code 75785, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rusk's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00417841; 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 Rusk?
In a normal year in Rusk, 69 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 27 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 69a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 27a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1942) is 107°F, on July 26, 1954; the lowest is −3°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1991, with 88.41 in; the snowiest season is 1947–48, with 13.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00417841; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00417841. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rusk?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rusk, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (86%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.8 |
| February | 65% | 3.2 |
| March | 70% | 4.3 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 77% | 5.9 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 85% | 6.5 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 4.2 |
| November | 75% | 3.1 |
| December | 70% | 2.5 |
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 Rusk need?
A normal year in Rusk brings 2,269 heating degree days, 58% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,269 cooling degree days, 2.5 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,011 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 577 | 2 |
| February | 426 | 6 |
| March | 268 | 23 |
| April | 99 | 74 |
| May | 15 | 225 |
| June | 0 | 405 |
| July | 0 | 508 |
| August | 0 | 521 |
| September | 4 | 349 |
| October | 80 | 129 |
| November | 289 | 22 |
| December | 512 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,269 | 2,269 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417841. 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 Rusk been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 67.0°F, 2.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.9°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65.2°F | +0.3°F | 49.72 |
| 2023 | 67.5°F | +2.6°F | 41.61 |
| 2024 | 67.0°F | +2.1°F | 72.67 |
Over 57 complete years from 1944 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00417841; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rusk's climate compare?
Rusk is warmer than 126 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 281. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.9°F is warmer than 88%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rusk 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 Rusk 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.
- Alto, TX1,064 people · 12 mi S
- Cushing, TX578 people · 18 mi E
- Reklaw, TX345 people · 10 mi NE
- Gallatin, TX342 people · 6 mi N
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 Rusk's climate
What is the coldest month in Rusk?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 37°F. The warmest is August (92°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Rusk?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.1 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Rusk?
December, with 4.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.35 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rusk in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rusk in zone 8b in ZIP code 75785, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rusk's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Rusk?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 7; in one year in ten it comes after March 29. Waiting until March 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Jacksonville, TX13 miles from this station, 65.0°F a year
- Palestine, TX27 miles from this station, 65.6°F a year
- Nacogdoches, TX32 miles from this station, 65.8°F a year
- Henderson, TX33 miles from this station, 65.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made