Shelbyville, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Shelbyville's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 59.4 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.3°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,508 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationShelbyville Water Dept
- Station IDUSC00408246
- Location35.49°N 86.48°W
- Elevation760 ft (232 m)
- Population25,792
On October 14, the normal high in Shelbyville is 74°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Shelbyville.
- Jan 49° 29°
- Feb 54° 32°
- Mar 63° 39°
- Apr 72° 47°
- May 80° 56°
- Jun 86° 64°
- Jul 89° 68°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 84° 60°
- Oct 73° 48°
- Nov 62° 37°
- Dec 52° 32°
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 Shelbyville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.05 in), the least in October (3.65 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 29°F | 39.1°F | 5.29 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 54°F | 32°F | 42.7°F | 5.63 | 0.2 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 39°F | 50.6°F | 5.79 | 0.7 | 12 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 47°F | 59.5°F | 4.99 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 56°F | 67.8°F | 5.05 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 64°F | 75.4°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 11 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 68°F | 78.8°F | 5.07 | 0.0 | 11 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 77.8°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 4.22 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 48°F | 60.6°F | 3.65 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 37°F | 49.3°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 32°F | 42.0°F | 6.05 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 48°F | 59.6°F | 59.36 | 1.1 | 128 | 49 | 76 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 134 mm | 0 cm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 5.9°C | 143 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 147 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.3°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.9°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 26.0°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.4°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 22.1°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00408246; 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 Shelbyville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00408246.
When is the last frost in Shelbyville?
In Shelbyville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 16 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
- April 71 year in 10 after April 23; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 16; 9 in 10 before November 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 204 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 226 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 27 in half of springs and before November 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shelbyville in zone 7b in ZIP code 37160, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Shelbyville's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00408246; 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 Shelbyville?
In a normal year in Shelbyville, 49 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 76 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 128 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 76a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 128a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1951) is 108°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −20°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 76.54 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 28.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00408246; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00408246. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Shelbyville?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Shelbyville, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 2.3 |
| February | 63% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 75% | 5.3 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.4 |
| July | 79% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.7 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 65% | 2.0 |
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 Shelbyville need?
A normal year in Shelbyville brings 3,523 heating degree days, 34% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,602 cooling degree days, 77% more than 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 4,716 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 802 | 0 |
| February | 624 | 1 |
| March | 453 | 6 |
| April | 200 | 37 |
| May | 54 | 142 |
| June | 3 | 313 |
| July | 0 | 429 |
| August | 0 | 397 |
| September | 19 | 223 |
| October | 184 | 49 |
| November | 474 | 4 |
| December | 712 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,523 | 1,602 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00408246. 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 Shelbyville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.1°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.6°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.2°F | +0.6°F | 72.71 | – |
| 2025 | 61.1°F | +1.5°F | 55.33 | – |
Over 57 complete years from 1952 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.4°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00408246; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Shelbyville's climate compare?
Shelbyville is warmer than 90 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 91. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.6°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Shelbyville 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 Shelbyville's climate
What is the coldest month in Shelbyville?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Shelbyville?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (0.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Shelbyville?
December, with 6.05 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.65 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Shelbyville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Shelbyville in zone 7b in ZIP code 37160, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Shelbyville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Shelbyville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 23. Waiting until April 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Shelbyville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wartrace, TN14 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Christiana, TN15 miles from this station, 57.2°F a year
- Lynchburg, TN15 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Tullahoma, TN18 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made