Shelbyville, KY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Shelbyville's primary NOAA station, SHELBYVILLE 1 E.
The climate verdict for Shelbyville
Water is the standout signal in Shelbyville, Kentucky: 49.8 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 54°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 54°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.8"
- precipitation, annual total
- 162 days
- frost-free growing season
Shelbyville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00157324 · Shelbyville, KY 54°F mean · 49.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 54°F
- RANK-MID #3,774
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chillicothe Mou…
- PRCP-MID 49.8"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,147 HDD
- STN-1 USC00157324
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Chillicothe Mound City, OH (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every KY station list.
- Shelbyville (this station) 54°F
- Hot Canyon De Chelly, AZ 54°F
- Near Chillicothe Mou…, OH 54°F
- Cold Trenton State C…, NJ 53°F
- Near Bridgeport Siko…, CT 53°F
Climate Living Index · Shelbyville
Shelbyville: 49/100 · grade D
Shelbyville publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Shelbyville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 53.5°F · 14.0° from 67.5°F | 54/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 144 calendar days | 51/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 49.8 in · 14.8 from 35 in | 48/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 162 days/year | 35/100 · F |
Shelbyville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Shelbyville is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 31.0°F and warmest-month mean 74.9°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 74.9°F
- Coldest month
- 31.0°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Shelbyville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Shelbyville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 55th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- Shelbyville's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 53rd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Shelbyville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Shelbyville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F (5°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 4.2" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 47°F (8°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.8" | 22.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 4.7" | 22.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 68°F (20°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 4.0" | 10.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 77°F (25°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 5.2" | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| June | 85°F (30°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 5.2" | 0.0 | 6.6 |
| July | 88°F (31°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.1" | 0.0 | 12.3 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 9.8 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.5" | 1.2 | 4.3 |
| October | 69°F (21°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.5" | 11.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 57°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 3.5" | 18.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 46°F (8°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 4.5" | 24.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 3, short of 90°F on every date, while 144 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 19°F near January 27.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 30, then returns to freezing around November 8, covering 144 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 8, when 38% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 23 at 24%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 116 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 6 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Shelbyville.
Where Shelbyville Stands Nationally
The normal water year runs well above the national norm at roughly 50 inches.
Shelbyville earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
11.0 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
Shelbyville spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 26% of the annual total and December through February 25%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Shelbyville has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 5.2" and September 3.5". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Shelbyville, it arrives in quantity
49.8" of precipitation falls across only about 115 wet days here, averaging 0.43 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 115 a year, 32% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.43 inches
- Most wet days
- March, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- October, about 7
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 10
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
162 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,147
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
976
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KY closest to Shelbyville on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (54°F here).
- Bison, KS 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Bodega, CA 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Brookville, IN 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Brownell, KS 54°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Easton, WA 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Princeton, IN 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Lake City, SC 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Glennville, GA 49.8" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Shelbyville's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
Shelbyville's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,147 annual heating degree days against 976 for cooling. Its 43.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Shelbyville's frost-free season lasts about 162 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Shelbyville's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 43.9°F. The annual average is 54°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, Shelbyville carries 49.8 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Shelbyville's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Shelbyville, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Shelbyville's climate
How much rain does Shelbyville get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Shelbyville get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Shelbyville? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Shelbyville's primary station: SHELBYVILLE 1 E (USC00157324). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 2170050). Match rule for Shelbyville: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Shelbyville comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.