Selma, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Selma's normal year runs from 35°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 53.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.9°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,358 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSelma (6 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSW00063897
- Location32.34°N 86.98°W
- Elevation157 ft (48 m)
- Population16,312
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Selma.
- Jan 57° 35°
- Feb 62° 38°
- Mar 69° 44°
- Apr 76° 50°
- May 84° 59°
- Jun 89° 67°
- Jul 91° 71°
- Aug 91° 70°
- Sep 87° 63°
- Oct 78° 52°
- Nov 67° 41°
- Dec 60° 38°
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 Selma each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in February (5.69 in), the least in October (2.87 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 35°F | 45.9°F | 4.50 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 62°F | 38°F | 50.4°F | 5.69 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 44°F | 56.7°F | 5.62 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 50°F | 63.1°F | 3.62 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 59°F | 71.7°F | 4.16 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 67°F | 78.2°F | 4.26 | 9 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 91°F | 71°F | 80.9°F | 4.61 | 11 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 91°F | 70°F | 80.3°F | 4.70 | 10 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 87°F | 63°F | 75.0°F | 3.55 | 7 | 11 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 52°F | 64.8°F | 2.87 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 67°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 4.58 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 60°F | 38°F | 48.7°F | 5.29 | 12 | <1 | 12 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 52°F | 64.2°F | 53.45 | 107 | 75 | 50 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 114 mm |
| February | 17°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 145 mm |
| March | 21°C | 7°C | 13.7°C | 143 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 92 mm |
| May | 29°C | 15°C | 22.1°C | 106 mm |
| June | 32°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 108 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.2°C | 117 mm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 26.8°C | 119 mm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.9°C | 90 mm |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 18.2°C | 73 mm |
| November | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 116 mm |
| December | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 134 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Selma's own co-op station Selma station does: 0 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00063897; 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 Selma?
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 (6).
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 USW00063897.
When is the last frost in Selma?
In Selma, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 21 in half of years and after April 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 7 in half of years and before October 25 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 211 year in 10 after April 12; 9 in 10 after February 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 71 year in 10 before October 25; 9 in 10 before November 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 233 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 262 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 3 in half of springs and before November 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Selma in zone 8b in ZIP code 36701, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00063897; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get in Selma?
In a normal year in Selma, 75 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 50 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 107 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 75a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 50a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 107a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00063897.
How sunny is Selma?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Selma, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.8 |
| February | 69% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 81% | 6.3 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.2 |
| December | 70% | 2.4 |
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 Selma need?
A normal year in Selma brings 2,367 heating degree days, 56% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,086 cooling degree days, 2.3 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,742 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 595 | 2 |
| February | 417 | 6 |
| March | 275 | 17 |
| April | 114 | 57 |
| May | 19 | 225 |
| June | 0 | 395 |
| July | 0 | 494 |
| August | 0 | 474 |
| September | 4 | 303 |
| October | 101 | 95 |
| November | 334 | 13 |
| December | 509 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,367 | 2,086 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00063897. 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 Selma been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 66.3°F, 2.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.2°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.4°F | +0.2°F | 56.83 |
| 2022 | 64.3°F | +0.1°F | 56.14 |
| 2023 | 66.0°F | +1.8°F | 53.48 |
| 2024 | 66.3°F | +2.1°F | 53.67 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00063897. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Selma's climate compare?
Selma is warmer than 50 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 4. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.2°F is warmer than 86%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Selma 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 Selma 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.
- Valley Grande, AL3,914 people · 11 mi N
- Selmont-West Selmont, AL2,121 people · 3 mi NW
- White Hall, AL751 people · 16 mi E
- Benton, AL37 people · 10 mi E
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 Selma's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Selma. This page uses Selma (6 mi SSE); the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selma (13 mi WNW) USW00063858 | 18 mi NW | 193 ft | 63.6°F | 34°F | 91°F | 55.4 | – | March 21 |
| Selma station USC00017366 | 6 mi N | 147 ft | 65.9°F | 36°F | 93°F | 54.5 | 0 | March 8 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Selma's climate
What is the coldest month in Selma?
January, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Selma?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Selma's NOAA station; Selma's own co-op station Selma station records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Selma?
February, with 5.69 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Selma in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Selma in zone 8b in ZIP code 36701, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Selma?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 21; in one year in ten it comes after April 12. Waiting until April 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Marion, AL17 miles from this station, 64.8°F a year
- Camden, AL29 miles from this station, 64.8°F a year
- Montgomery, AL34 miles from this station, 66.4°F a year
- Centreville, AL40 miles from this station, 61.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made