Smithfield, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Smithfield's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 49.4 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.8 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,254 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSmithfield
- Station IDUSC00317994
- Location35.52°N 78.34°W
- Elevation150 ft (46 m)
- Population12,806
On October 22, the normal high in Smithfield is 72°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Smithfield.
- Jan 54° 31°
- Feb 57° 33°
- Mar 65° 39°
- Apr 74° 48°
- May 81° 57°
- Jun 88° 66°
- Jul 92° 71°
- Aug 89° 69°
- Sep 84° 63°
- Oct 74° 50°
- Nov 64° 39°
- Dec 57° 34°
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 Smithfield each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.54 in), the least in October (3.21 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 31°F | 42.5°F | 3.45 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 33°F | 45.2°F | 3.31 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 39°F | 51.9°F | 4.01 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 48°F | 60.8°F | 3.69 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 57°F | 69.2°F | 4.20 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 66°F | 77.1°F | 4.67 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 92°F | 71°F | 81.2°F | 5.54 | 12 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 69°F | 78.9°F | 5.28 | 10 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 63°F | 73.3°F | 5.51 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 50°F | 62.2°F | 3.21 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 39°F | 51.7°F | 3.25 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 57°F | 34°F | 45.2°F | 3.25 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 50°F | 61.6°F | 49.37 | 118 | 53 | 76 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 0°C | 5.8°C | 88 mm |
| February | 14°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 84 mm |
| March | 18°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 102 mm |
| April | 23°C | 9°C | 16.0°C | 94 mm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 107 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 119 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.3°C | 141 mm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 26.1°C | 134 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 140 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 82 mm |
| November | 18°C | 4°C | 10.9°C | 83 mm |
| December | 14°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 83 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00317994; 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 Smithfield?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00317994.
When is the last frost in Smithfield?
In Smithfield, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 5 in half of years and before October 22 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 291 year in 10 after April 14; 9 in 10 after March 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 51 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 220 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 245 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 16 in half of springs and before November 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Smithfield in zone 8a in ZIP code 27577. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Smithfield's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (18 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00317994; 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 Smithfield?
In a normal year in Smithfield, 53 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 76 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 53a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 76a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 106°F, on July 29, 1952; the lowest is −5°F, on January 20, 1893.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1936, with 67.66 in; the snowiest season is 1926–27, with 23.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00317994; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00317994. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Smithfield?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Smithfield, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 Smithfield need?
A normal year in Smithfield brings 3,078 heating degree days, 43% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,871 cooling degree days, 2.1 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 5,127 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 699 | 1 |
| February | 558 | 2 |
| March | 416 | 10 |
| April | 179 | 53 |
| May | 43 | 173 |
| June | 2 | 365 |
| July | 0 | 504 |
| August | 0 | 433 |
| September | 11 | 259 |
| October | 149 | 62 |
| November | 405 | 7 |
| December | 615 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 3,078 | 1,871 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00317994. 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 Smithfield been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 62.8°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 62.8°F | +1.2°F | 48.39 |
Over 82 complete years from 1891 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°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 USC00317994; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Smithfield's climate compare?
Smithfield is warmer than 94 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 51. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.6°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Smithfield 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 Smithfield share this climate record?
6 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.
- Selma, NC7,228 people · 3 mi NE
- Wilson's Mills, NC2,913 people · 5 mi N
- Four Oaks, NC2,681 people · 6 mi SW
- Pine Level, NC2,347 people · 5 mi E
- Princeton, NC1,507 people · 11 mi E
- Micro, NC530 people · 9 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.
Questions about Smithfield's climate
What is the coldest month in Smithfield?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Smithfield?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.8 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Smithfield?
July, with 5.54 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Smithfield in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Smithfield in zone 8a in ZIP code 27577. By the same method at Smithfield's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Smithfield?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; in one year in ten it comes after April 14. Waiting until April 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clayton, NC11 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Garner, NC21 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Dunn, NC24 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Goldsboro, NC24 miles from this station, 63.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made