Saluda, South Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Saluda's normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 46.8 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.4 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.8°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,189 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSaluda
- Station IDUSC00387631
- Location33.99°N 81.77°W
- Elevation480 ft (146 m)
- Population3,061
On October 23, the normal high in Saluda is 73°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Saluda.
- Jan 54° 32°
- Feb 59° 34°
- Mar 66° 40°
- Apr 75° 48°
- May 83° 58°
- Jun 89° 67°
- Jul 93° 70°
- Aug 91° 69°
- Sep 85° 62°
- Oct 75° 50°
- Nov 64° 39°
- Dec 56° 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 Saluda each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in March (4.57 in), the least in April (3.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 32°F | 42.8°F | 4.09 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 34°F | 46.3°F | 3.82 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 66°F | 40°F | 53.3°F | 4.57 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 48°F | 61.9°F | 3.07 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 58°F | 70.3°F | 3.49 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 67°F | 77.9°F | 4.18 | 10 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 93°F | 70°F | 81.4°F | 4.28 | 11 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 91°F | 69°F | 79.9°F | 4.50 | 9 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 62°F | 73.7°F | 3.97 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 50°F | 62.4°F | 3.22 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 39°F | 51.5°F | 3.36 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 56°F | 34°F | 45.0°F | 4.25 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 50°F | 62.2°F | 46.80 | 109 | 76 | 68 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 0°C | 6.0°C | 104 mm |
| February | 15°C | 1°C | 7.9°C | 97 mm |
| March | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 116 mm |
| April | 24°C | 9°C | 16.6°C | 78 mm |
| May | 28°C | 14°C | 21.3°C | 89 mm |
| June | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 106 mm |
| July | 34°C | 21°C | 27.4°C | 109 mm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 114 mm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 101 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 82 mm |
| November | 18°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 85 mm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 7.2°C | 108 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00387631; 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 Saluda?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. 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 USC00387631.
When is the last frost in Saluda?
In Saluda, 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 21 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 21; 9 in 10 before November 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 218 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 246 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 17 in half of springs and before November 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Saluda in zone 8a in ZIP code 29138, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Saluda's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (30 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 USC00387631; 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 Saluda?
In a normal year in Saluda, 76 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 68 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 109 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 76a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 68a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 109a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 109°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −2°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 63.66 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 13.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00387631; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00387631. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Saluda?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Saluda, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.9 |
| February | 73% | 3.5 |
| March | 75% | 4.5 |
| April | 80% | 5.8 |
| May | 80% | 6.2 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 79% | 3.1 |
| December | 74% | 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 Saluda need?
A normal year in Saluda brings 2,954 heating degree days, 45% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,970 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 5,294 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 688 | 0 |
| February | 524 | 1 |
| March | 374 | 12 |
| April | 153 | 59 |
| May | 31 | 196 |
| June | 1 | 388 |
| July | 0 | 508 |
| August | 0 | 462 |
| September | 10 | 272 |
| October | 142 | 63 |
| November | 411 | 7 |
| December | 620 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,954 | 1,970 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00387631. 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 Saluda been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 63.5°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.2°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.7°F | +0.5°F | 49.66 |
| 2022 | 62.9°F | +0.7°F | 53.02 |
| 2023 | 63.5°F | +1.3°F | 46.22 |
Over 79 complete years from 1904 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00387631; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Saluda's climate compare?
Saluda is warmer than 27 of the other 72 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 20. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.2°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Saluda 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.
Questions about Saluda's climate
What is the coldest month in Saluda?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Saluda?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.4 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Saluda?
March, with 4.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Saluda in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Saluda in zone 8a in ZIP code 29138, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Saluda's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Saluda?
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
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lake Greenwood, SC14 miles from this station, 60.8°F a year
- Batesburg, SC15 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Edgefield, SC16 miles from this station, 63.7°F a year
- Johnston, SC16 miles from this station, 62.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made