Shippensburg, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Shippensburg's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 42.5 inches of precipitation and 34 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.8°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,079 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationShippensburg
- Station IDUSC00368073
- Location40.06°N 77.52°W
- Elevation680 ft (207 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population5,638
On October 23, the normal high in Shippensburg is 63°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Shippensburg.
- Jan 38° 22°
- Feb 42° 24°
- Mar 51° 31°
- Apr 64° 41°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 83° 60°
- Jul 87° 64°
- Aug 85° 62°
- Sep 78° 55°
- Oct 66° 44°
- Nov 53° 34°
- Dec 42° 27°
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 Shippensburg each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in September (4.32 in), the least in February (2.66 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 22°F | 30.2°F | 3.17 | 9.8 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 24°F | 32.9°F | 2.66 | 10.3 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 31°F | 41.0°F | 3.70 | 6.7 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 41°F | 52.5°F | 3.64 | 0.4 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 4.01 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 60°F | 71.3°F | 4.00 | 0.0 | 12 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 64°F | 75.7°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 11 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 62°F | 73.7°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 55°F | 66.2°F | 4.32 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 44°F | 54.8°F | 3.33 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 34°F | 43.7°F | 2.98 | 0.8 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| December | 42°F | 27°F | 34.5°F | 3.36 | 5.4 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 43°F | 53.2°F | 42.49 | 33.6 | 126 | 30 | 111 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −5°C | −1.0°C | 81 mm | 25 cm |
| February | 6°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 68 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 94 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 92 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.0°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.7°C | 85 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 12°C | 1°C | 6.5°C | 76 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 6°C | −3°C | 1.4°C | 85 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00368073; 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 Shippensburg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00368073.
When is the last frost in Shippensburg?
In Shippensburg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 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
- April 191 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 188 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 212 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shippensburg in zone 7a in ZIP code 17257, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Shippensburg's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00368073; 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 Shippensburg?
In a normal year in Shippensburg, 30 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 111 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 126 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 30a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 111a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 126a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 105°F, on July 22, 2011; the lowest is −16°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 63.98 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 93.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00368073; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00368073. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Shippensburg?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Shippensburg, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (77%) and December the cloudiest (58%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 1.8 |
| February | 65% | 2.6 |
| March | 64% | 3.6 |
| April | 67% | 4.7 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 73% | 4.2 |
| October | 67% | 2.9 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 58% | 1.4 |
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 Shippensburg need?
A normal year in Shippensburg brings 5,267 heating degree days, 2% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,014 cooling degree days, 12% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,462 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,079 | 0 |
| February | 899 | 0 |
| March | 743 | 1 |
| April | 387 | 12 |
| May | 146 | 67 |
| June | 20 | 207 |
| July | 1 | 332 |
| August | 4 | 274 |
| September | 71 | 107 |
| October | 331 | 14 |
| November | 639 | 0 |
| December | 947 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,267 | 1,014 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00368073. 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 Shippensburg been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.8°F, 0.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 53.2°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.1°F | +0.9°F | 38.19 | 28.6 |
| 2022 | 52.4°F | −0.8°F | 37.71 | 21.2 |
| 2023 | 54.1°F | +0.9°F | 35.29 | 5.2 |
| 2024 | 54.7°F | +1.5°F | 42.46 | 23.2 |
| 2025 | 52.8°F | −0.4°F | 39.32 | 18.7 |
Over 82 complete years from 1933 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00368073; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Shippensburg's climate compare?
Shippensburg is warmer than 96 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 36. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.2°F is warmer than 54%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Shippensburg is Dfa: continental, 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 Shippensburg 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.
- Shippensburg University, PA1,944 people · 0 mi NW
- Newburg, PA360 people · 6 mi N
- Orrstown, PA213 people · 5 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.
Questions about Shippensburg's climate
What is the coldest month in Shippensburg?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Shippensburg?
Yes: 34 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (10.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Shippensburg?
September, with 4.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.66 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Shippensburg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Shippensburg in zone 7a in ZIP code 17257, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Shippensburg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Shippensburg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Chambersburg, PA11 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- South Mountain, PA14 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Cashtown, PA16 miles from this station, 51.3°F a year
- Bloserville (1 mi N), PA16 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made