Somerset, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Somerset's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 53.3 inches of precipitation and 5 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.6°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,353 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSomerset (2 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00157510
- Location37.12°N 84.62°W
- Elevation1,020 ft (311 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population12,389
On October 23, the normal high in Somerset is 68°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Somerset.
- Jan 45° 29°
- Feb 50° 32°
- Mar 59° 39°
- Apr 70° 48°
- May 77° 57°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 87° 69°
- Aug 86° 67°
- Sep 81° 60°
- Oct 71° 48°
- Nov 59° 38°
- Dec 49° 33°
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 Somerset each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.28 in), the least in October (3.19 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 | 45°F | 29°F | 37.2°F | 4.33 | 3.0 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 50°F | 32°F | 40.6°F | 3.93 | 1.3 | 11 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 59°F | 39°F | 48.5°F | 5.11 | 0.8 | 13 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 48°F | 58.9°F | 4.93 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 57°F | 66.7°F | 5.22 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.2°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 87°F | 69°F | 77.7°F | 5.28 | 0.0 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 86°F | 67°F | 76.5°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 60°F | 70.3°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 48°F | 59.4°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 38°F | 48.4°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 49°F | 33°F | 40.9°F | 4.87 | 0.3 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 49°F | 58.3°F | 53.28 | 5.4 | 132 | 21 | 94 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −2°C | 2.9°C | 110 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 10°C | 0°C | 4.8°C | 100 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 15°C | 4°C | 9.2°C | 130 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 14°C | 19.3°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.4°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 21°C | 25.4°C | 134 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.3°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 9°C | 15.2°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 9°C | 1°C | 4.9°C | 124 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00157510; 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 Somerset?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, 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 USC00157510.
When is the last frost in Somerset?
In Somerset, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 30 in half of years and before October 17 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 51 year in 10 after April 25; 9 in 10 after March 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 301 year in 10 before October 17; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 206 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 229 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 25 in half of springs and before November 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Somerset in zone 7a in ZIP code 42533, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00157510; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Somerset?
In a normal year in Somerset, 21 days a year reach 90°F, 94 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 132 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 94a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 12high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 132a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1950) is 104°F, on August 24, 2007; the lowest is −32°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 65.21 in; the snowiest season is 1984–85, with 45.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00157510; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00157510. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Somerset?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Somerset, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 2.0 |
| February | 61% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 61% | 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 much heating and cooling does Somerset need?
A normal year in Somerset brings 3,861 heating degree days, 28% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,450 cooling degree days, 60% 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 4,444 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 862 | 0 |
| February | 682 | 1 |
| March | 516 | 6 |
| April | 224 | 42 |
| May | 76 | 127 |
| June | 6 | 283 |
| July | 0 | 395 |
| August | 1 | 359 |
| September | 30 | 190 |
| October | 215 | 41 |
| November | 502 | 4 |
| December | 747 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,861 | 1,450 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00157510. 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.
How does Somerset's climate compare?
Somerset is warmer than 57 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.3°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Somerset 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 Somerset share this climate record?
4 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.
- Ferguson, KY864 people · 4 mi S
- Burnside, KY718 people · 8 mi S
- Science Hill, KY660 people · 4 mi N
- Eubank, KY331 people · 11 mi N
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 Somerset's climate
What is the coldest month in Somerset?
January, with a normal high of 45°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Somerset?
Yes: 5 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Somerset?
July, with 5.28 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.19 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Somerset in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Somerset in zone 7a in ZIP code 42533, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Somerset?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 25. Waiting until April 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Somerset in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Monticello, KY21 miles from this station, 56.4°F a year
- Mount Vernon, KY22 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Jamestown, KY25 miles from this station, 55.4°F a year
- Crab Orchard, KY27 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made