Gadsden, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gadsden's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 57.6 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.2 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.1°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,464 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGadsden
- Station IDUSC00013154
- Location34.02°N 85.99°W
- Elevation565 ft (172 m)
- Population33,086
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gadsden.
- Jan 53° 33°
- Feb 57° 36°
- Mar 66° 43°
- Apr 75° 50°
- May 82° 59°
- Jun 88° 68°
- Jul 91° 71°
- Aug 90° 70°
- Sep 85° 64°
- Oct 75° 53°
- Nov 64° 41°
- Dec 56° 36°
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 Gadsden each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in January (5.70 in), the least in October (3.51 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 33°F | 42.8°F | 5.70 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 57°F | 36°F | 46.7°F | 5.18 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 66°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 5.40 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 50°F | 62.7°F | 5.07 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 59°F | 70.7°F | 4.79 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 88°F | 68°F | 77.9°F | 4.56 | 10 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 91°F | 71°F | 81.0°F | 4.71 | 10 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 70°F | 80.4°F | 4.49 | 8 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 64°F | 74.8°F | 4.50 | 6 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 53°F | 64.0°F | 3.51 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.7°F | 4.25 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 56°F | 36°F | 45.6°F | 5.48 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 52°F | 62.8°F | 57.64 | 106 | 66 | 53 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 0°C | 6.0°C | 145 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 132 mm |
| March | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 137 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 129 mm |
| May | 28°C | 15°C | 21.5°C | 122 mm |
| June | 31°C | 20°C | 25.5°C | 116 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.2°C | 120 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.9°C | 114 mm |
| September | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 114 mm |
| October | 24°C | 11°C | 17.8°C | 89 mm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.5°C | 108 mm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.6°C | 139 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00013154; 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 Gadsden?
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 USC00013154.
When is the last frost in Gadsden?
In Gadsden, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 19 in half of years and after April 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 13 in half of years and before November 1 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 191 year in 10 after April 7; 9 in 10 after February 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 131 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 240 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 268 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 4 in half of springs and before November 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gadsden in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 35904, the largest).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00013154; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Gadsden ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Gadsden'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 Gadsden?
In a normal year in Gadsden, 66 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 53 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 106 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 53a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 106a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1953) is 106°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −6°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 74.10 in; the snowiest season is 1963–64, with 6.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00013154; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00013154. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Gadsden?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gadsden, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.9 |
| November | 76% | 2.9 |
| December | 67% | 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 Gadsden need?
A normal year in Gadsden brings 2,781 heating degree days, 48% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,018 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 5,448 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 688 | 0 |
| February | 512 | 1 |
| March | 334 | 14 |
| April | 126 | 56 |
| May | 24 | 201 |
| June | 1 | 386 |
| July | 0 | 498 |
| August | 0 | 476 |
| September | 6 | 300 |
| October | 112 | 80 |
| November | 377 | 6 |
| December | 601 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 2,781 | 2,018 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00013154. 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.
How does Gadsden's climate compare?
Gadsden is warmer than 32 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 43. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.8°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Gadsden 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 Gadsden share this climate record?
20 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.
- Rainbow City, AL10,349 people · 8 mi SW
- Southside, AL9,633 people · 9 mi S
- Attalla, AL5,746 people · 8 mi W
- Glencoe, AL5,396 people · 6 mi SE
- Hokes Bluff, AL4,668 people · 8 mi E
- Whitesboro, AL2,098 people · 11 mi N
- Crossville, AL1,829 people · 18 mi N
- Carlisle-Rockledge, AL1,791 people · 10 mi NW
- Sardis City, AL1,782 people · 13 mi NW
- Coats Bend, AL1,429 people · 7 mi NE
- Ohatchee, AL1,199 people · 16 mi S
- Ballplay, AL1,149 people · 11 mi E
- Tidmore Bend, AL1,086 people · 4 mi E
- Lookout Mountain, AL1,074 people · 7 mi N
- Egypt, AL1,039 people · 11 mi W
- Steele, AL1,003 people · 13 mi SW
- Ivalee, AL649 people · 9 mi W
- Reece City, AL610 people · 5 mi NW
- Bristow Cove, AL150 people · 16 mi NW
- Ridgeville, AL85 people · 7 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Gadsden's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Gadsden. This page uses Gadsden; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gadsden (19 mi N) USW00063857 | 18 mi N | 1,152 ft | 59.0°F | 31°F | 87°F | 57.6 | – | April 1 |
| Sand Mount Substn USC00017207 | 18 mi N | 1,190 ft | 59.5°F | 30°F | 88°F | 56.5 | 1 | March 31 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Gadsden's climate
What is the coldest month in Gadsden?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Gadsden?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.2 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Gadsden?
January, with 5.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.51 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gadsden in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Gadsden in zone 8a across its 3 ZIP code areas (8a in 35904, the largest).
How late can frost come in Gadsden?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 19; in one year in ten it comes after April 7. Waiting until April 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Centre, AL19 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Oneonta, AL25 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Guntersville, AL29 miles from this station, 61.5°F a year
- Anniston, AL31 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made