Russellville, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Russellville's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 46.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.3°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,179 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRussellville Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053920
- Location35.26°N 93.09°W
- Elevation403 ft (123 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population29,442
On October 22, the normal high in Russellville is 72°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Russellville.
- Jan 50° 30°
- Feb 55° 33°
- Mar 64° 41°
- Apr 73° 49°
- May 80° 59°
- Jun 88° 68°
- Jul 93° 71°
- Aug 92° 70°
- Sep 86° 62°
- Oct 74° 50°
- Nov 62° 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 Russellville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in April (4.83 in), the least in September (3.02 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 | 50°F | 30°F | 40.0°F | 3.20 | 8 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 33°F | 44.0°F | 3.10 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 64°F | 41°F | 52.5°F | 4.37 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 49°F | 61.0°F | 4.83 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 59°F | 69.6°F | 4.67 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 68°F | 77.9°F | 3.35 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 71°F | 81.8°F | 3.45 | 10 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 92°F | 70°F | 81.1°F | 3.51 | 9 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 62°F | 73.6°F | 3.02 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 50°F | 62.1°F | 4.06 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 4.60 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 32°F | 42.1°F | 4.25 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 50°F | 61.4°F | 46.41 | 114 | 73 | 77 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −1°C | 4.4°C | 81 mm |
| February | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 79 mm |
| March | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 111 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.1°C | 123 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 119 mm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.5°C | 85 mm |
| July | 34°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 88 mm |
| August | 34°C | 21°C | 27.3°C | 89 mm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 77 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 103 mm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 117 mm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 108 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Dardanelle (4 miles away), gets 3 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053920; 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 Russellville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, October 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 USW00053920.
When is the last frost in Russellville?
In Russellville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 2 in half of years and before October 20 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 291 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 21 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 219 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 244 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 13 in half of springs and before November 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Russellville in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 72802, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Russellville's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053920; 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 Russellville ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Russellville'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 Russellville?
In a normal year in Russellville, 73 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 77 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 73a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 77a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
The highest temperature in Russellville's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1882) is 115°F, on August 3, 2011; the lowest is −15°F, on February 12, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1957, with 71.00 in; the snowiest season is 1987–88, with 14.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053920; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record RUEthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Russellville?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Russellville, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 66% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 74% | 2.7 |
| December | 70% | 2.2 |
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 Russellville need?
A normal year in Russellville brings 3,279 heating degree days, 39% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,988 cooling degree days, 2.2 times 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 5,204 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 776 | 1 |
| February | 589 | 1 |
| March | 398 | 12 |
| April | 164 | 44 |
| May | 33 | 177 |
| June | 0 | 387 |
| July | 0 | 521 |
| August | 0 | 501 |
| September | 12 | 271 |
| October | 157 | 67 |
| November | 441 | 6 |
| December | 710 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,279 | 1,988 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053920. 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 Russellville been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 64.0°F, 2.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.4°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61.7°F | +0.3°F | 43.28 |
| 2022 | 61.4°F | at normal | 43.25 |
| 2023 | 63.4°F | +2.0°F | 48.43 |
| 2024 | 64.0°F | +2.6°F | 47.74 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053920. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Russellville's climate compare?
Russellville is warmer than 45 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.4°F is warmer than 78%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Russellville 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 Russellville share this climate record?
6 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.
- Pottsville, AR3,301 people · 3 mi SE
- Atkins, AR2,878 people · 8 mi E
- Dover, AR1,368 people · 9 mi N
- Hector, AR419 people · 16 mi NE
- Appleton, AR145 people · 16 mi NE
- Oak Grove, AR70 people · 10 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 Russellville's climate
What is the coldest month in Russellville?
January, with a normal high of 50°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Russellville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Russellville's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Dardanelle (4 miles away), records 3 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Russellville?
April, with 4.83 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Russellville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Russellville in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 72802, the largest). By the same method at Russellville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Russellville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; 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
- Russellville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Dardanelle, AR4 miles from this station, 61.8°F a year
- Morrilton, AR20 miles from this station, 61.1°F a year
- Nimrod Dam, AR21 miles from this station, 62.6°F a year
- Clarksville, AR27 miles from this station, 60.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made