Sam Rayburn, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sam Rayburn's normal year runs from 41°F January nights to 95°F August afternoons, with 60.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 20.3°C, January lows of 5°C, August highs of 35°C, 1,525 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSam Rayburn Dam
- Station IDUSC00417936
- Location31.06°N 94.10°W
- Elevation189 ft (58 m)
- Population (census place)1,163
On October 14, the normal high in Sam Rayburn is 81°F and the normal low 59°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sam Rayburn.
- Jan 60° 41°
- Feb 64° 45°
- Mar 71° 51°
- Apr 78° 58°
- May 85° 66°
- Jun 91° 73°
- Jul 94° 75°
- Aug 95° 74°
- Sep 89° 70°
- Oct 81° 59°
- Nov 70° 50°
- Dec 62° 43°
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 Sam Rayburn each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 41°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.09 in), the least in July (3.52 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F | 41°F | 50.7°F | 5.59 | 11 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 64°F | 45°F | 54.4°F | 4.76 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 51°F | 61.3°F | 5.44 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 58°F | 67.9°F | 4.63 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 85°F | 66°F | 75.8°F | 4.53 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 91°F | 73°F | 82.0°F | 5.54 | 10 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 94°F | 75°F | 84.4°F | 3.52 | 9 | 25 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 95°F | 74°F | 84.5°F | 4.98 | 9 | 25 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 89°F | 70°F | 79.8°F | 4.44 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 59°F | 69.6°F | 5.22 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 70°F | 50°F | 59.7°F | 5.29 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 62°F | 43°F | 52.6°F | 6.09 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 59°F | 68.5°F | 60.03 | 112 | 94 | 30 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 5°C | 10.4°C | 142 mm |
| February | 18°C | 7°C | 12.4°C | 121 mm |
| March | 22°C | 11°C | 16.3°C | 138 mm |
| April | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 118 mm |
| May | 30°C | 19°C | 24.3°C | 115 mm |
| June | 33°C | 23°C | 27.8°C | 141 mm |
| July | 34°C | 24°C | 29.1°C | 89 mm |
| August | 35°C | 24°C | 29.2°C | 126 mm |
| September | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 113 mm |
| October | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 133 mm |
| November | 21°C | 10°C | 15.4°C | 134 mm |
| December | 17°C | 6°C | 11.4°C | 155 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417936; 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 Sam Rayburn?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00417936.
When is the last frost in Sam Rayburn?
In Sam Rayburn, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 24 in half of years and after March 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 1 in half of years and before November 9 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
- February 241 year in 10 after March 23; 9 in 10 after January 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 11 year in 10 before November 9; 9 in 10 before December 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 280 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 317 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 3 in half of springs and before December 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sam Rayburn in zone 9a in ZIP code 75931, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sam Rayburn's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 20°F (21 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00417936; 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 Sam Rayburn?
In a normal year in Sam Rayburn, 94 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 30 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 94a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 30a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1968) is 109°F, on September 5, 2000; the lowest is 7°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 86.70 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00417936; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00417936. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sam Rayburn?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sam Rayburn, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (85%) 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 | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 78% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.3 |
| August | 85% | 6.0 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 4.2 |
| November | 76% | 3.1 |
| December | 69% | 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 Sam Rayburn need?
A normal year in Sam Rayburn brings 1,671 heating degree days, 69% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,988 cooling degree days, 3.3 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 7,086 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 454 | 11 |
| February | 318 | 22 |
| March | 181 | 64 |
| April | 60 | 145 |
| May | 5 | 338 |
| June | 0 | 509 |
| July | 0 | 601 |
| August | 0 | 603 |
| September | 2 | 444 |
| October | 46 | 190 |
| November | 207 | 47 |
| December | 399 | 15 |
| Year (annual) | 1,671 | 2,988 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00417936. 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 Sam Rayburn been warmer than normal lately?
Over 44 complete years from 1968 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.8°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sam Rayburn's climate compare?
Sam Rayburn is warmer than 228 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 299. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 68.5°F is warmer than 94%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sam Rayburn 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 Sam Rayburn share this climate record?
3 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.
- Jasper, TX7,505 people · 12 mi SE
- Zavalla, TX619 people · 20 mi W
- Browndell, TX156 people · 8 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 Sam Rayburn's climate
What is the coldest month in Sam Rayburn?
January, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 41°F. The warmest is August (95°F by day, 74°F at night).
Does it snow in Sam Rayburn?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Sam Rayburn?
December, with 6.09 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 3.52 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sam Rayburn in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sam Rayburn in zone 9a in ZIP code 75931, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sam Rayburn's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 20°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Sam Rayburn?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 24; in one year in ten it comes after March 23. Waiting until March 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Town Bluff Dam, TX19 miles from this station, 66.3°F a year
- San Augustine, TX32 miles from this station, 65.4°F a year
- Toledo Bend Dam, TX33 miles from this station, 66.0°F a year
- Toledo Bend Lake, LA33 miles from this station, 66.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made