Snowshoe, West Virginia climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Snowshoe's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 70°F July afternoons, with 62.5 inches of precipitation and 145 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.2°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 21°C, 1,589 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSnowshoe
- Station IDUSC00468308
- Location38.40°N 79.99°W
- Elevation4,847 ft (1,477 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Snowshoe is 51°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 51%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Snowshoe.
- Jan 30° 14°
- Feb 32° 16°
- Mar 39° 23°
- Apr 51° 33°
- May 60° 43°
- Jun 67° 51°
- Jul 70° 55°
- Aug 69° 55°
- Sep 64° 49°
- Oct 53° 38°
- Nov 42° 27°
- Dec 34° 20°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Snowshoe each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 70°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.22 in), the least in October (4.10 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 14°F | 22.1°F | 6.06 | 35.5 | 24 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 32°F | 16°F | 23.9°F | 4.95 | 31.4 | 19 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 39°F | 23°F | 30.8°F | 5.97 | 27.2 | 20 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 33°F | 42.0°F | 5.17 | 8.5 | 17 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 60°F | 43°F | 51.4°F | 5.84 | 0.8 | 18 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 67°F | 51°F | 59.0°F | 5.71 | 0.0 | 18 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 70°F | 55°F | 62.6°F | 4.87 | 0.0 | 18 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 69°F | 55°F | 61.7°F | 4.76 | 0.0 | 17 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 64°F | 49°F | 56.3°F | 4.42 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 53°F | 38°F | 45.7°F | 4.10 | 2.8 | 15 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 42°F | 27°F | 34.6°F | 4.47 | 9.7 | 16 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 34°F | 20°F | 27.0°F | 6.22 | 28.8 | 21 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 51°F | 35°F | 43.1°F | 62.54 | 144.7 | 218 | <1 | 149 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −10°C | −5.5°C | 154 mm | 90 cm |
| February | 0°C | −9°C | −4.5°C | 126 mm | 80 cm |
| March | 4°C | −5°C | −0.7°C | 152 mm | 69 cm |
| April | 11°C | 1°C | 5.6°C | 131 mm | 22 cm |
| May | 15°C | 6°C | 10.8°C | 148 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 19°C | 11°C | 15.0°C | 145 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 21°C | 13°C | 17.0°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 20°C | 13°C | 16.5°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 18°C | 10°C | 13.5°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12°C | 3°C | 7.6°C | 104 mm | 7 cm |
| November | 6°C | −3°C | 1.4°C | 114 mm | 25 cm |
| December | 1°C | −7°C | −2.8°C | 158 mm | 73 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00468308; 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.
Which months are mildest at Snowshoe?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July and August. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (17).
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 USC00468308.
When is the last frost at Snowshoe?
In Snowshoe, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 24 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
- May 121 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after April 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 147 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 2 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Snowshoe in zone 6a in ZIP code 24927, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (28 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00468308; 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 at Snowshoe?
In a normal year in Snowshoe, a 90°F day is rare, 149 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 218 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 149a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 218a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 45a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1975) is 90°F, on July 4, 2026; the lowest is −36°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 87.07 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 276.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00468308; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00468308. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Snowshoe?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Snowshoe, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (75%) and January the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 2.0 |
| February | 66% | 2.9 |
| March | 67% | 3.9 |
| April | 69% | 4.9 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 73% | 6.0 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 75% | 5.3 |
| September | 73% | 4.4 |
| October | 71% | 3.3 |
| November | 72% | 2.4 |
| December | 64% | 1.8 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Snowshoe record?
A normal year at Snowshoe brings 8,018 heating degree days, 49% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 57 cooling degree days, 94% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,502 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,331 | 0 |
| February | 1,152 | 0 |
| March | 1,059 | 0 |
| April | 690 | 0 |
| May | 422 | 2 |
| June | 190 | 9 |
| July | 98 | 24 |
| August | 120 | 18 |
| September | 266 | 5 |
| October | 599 | 0 |
| November | 912 | 0 |
| December | 1,180 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,018 | 57 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00468308. 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.
Have recent years at Snowshoe been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 45.0°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.1°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43.9°F | +0.8°F | 43.09 | 57.5 |
| 2025 | 45.0°F | +1.9°F | 52.27 | – |
Over 37 complete years from 1978 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.2°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00468308; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Snowshoe's climate compare?
Snowshoe is warmer than 0 of the 63 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 58. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.1°F is warmer than 12%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Snowshoe is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Snowshoe's climate
What is the coldest month at Snowshoe?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (70°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow at Snowshoe?
Yes: 145 inches in a normal year, falling on 51 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (35.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Snowshoe?
December, with 6.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 4.10 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Snowshoe in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Snowshoe in zone 6a in ZIP code 24927, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come at Snowshoe?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after May 29. Waiting until May 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Frost (3 mi NE), WV12 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Marlinton, WV14 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Bartow, WV15 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Mill Gap, VA16 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made