South Boston, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
South Boston's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 46.4 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.7°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,178 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSouth Boston
- Station IDUSC00447925
- Location36.70°N 78.88°W
- Elevation329 ft (100 m)
- Population7,795
On October 14, the normal high in South Boston is 73°F and the normal low 47°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 South Boston.
- Jan 51° 27°
- Feb 54° 28°
- Mar 62° 34°
- Apr 72° 43°
- May 79° 53°
- Jun 86° 63°
- Jul 90° 67°
- Aug 88° 66°
- Sep 83° 59°
- Oct 73° 46°
- Nov 63° 35°
- Dec 54° 29°
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 South Boston each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.88 in), the least in February (2.95 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 27°F | 38.6°F | 3.56 | 3.0 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 54°F | 28°F | 41.1°F | 2.95 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 34°F | 48.1°F | 4.03 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 43°F | 57.5°F | 3.67 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 53°F | 66.0°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 63°F | 74.3°F | 4.88 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 67°F | 78.7°F | 4.01 | 0.0 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 88°F | 66°F | 77.1°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 9 | 11 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 59°F | 70.8°F | 4.69 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 46°F | 59.3°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 35°F | 48.6°F | 3.40 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 54°F | 29°F | 41.6°F | 3.58 | 1.0 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 46°F | 58.5°F | 46.37 | 5.5 | 117 | 40 | 108 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −3°C | 3.7°C | 90 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 12°C | −2°C | 5.1°C | 75 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 102 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 22°C | 6°C | 14.2°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 12°C | 18.9°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.5°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 15°C | 21.6°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 12°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 91 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00447925; 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 South Boston?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, 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 USC00447925.
When is the last frost in South Boston?
In South Boston, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 10 in half of years and after April 30 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 101 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after March 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 301 year in 10 before October 17; 9 in 10 before November 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 202 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 224 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 29 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts South Boston in zone 7b in ZIP code 24592. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, South Boston's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00447925; 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 South Boston?
In a normal year in South Boston, 40 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 108 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 40a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 108a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1977) is 104°F, on July 17, 1980; the lowest is −7°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 65.32 in; the snowiest season is 1999–00, with 26.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00447925; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00447925. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is South Boston?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around South Boston, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.5 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 72% | 4.2 |
| April | 77% | 5.4 |
| May | 77% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 76% | 3.6 |
| November | 78% | 2.8 |
| December | 73% | 2.2 |
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 South Boston need?
A normal year in South Boston brings 3,813 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,468 cooling degree days, 62% 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 4,377 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 818 | 0 |
| February | 670 | 0 |
| March | 529 | 4 |
| April | 253 | 29 |
| May | 80 | 113 |
| June | 7 | 288 |
| July | 0 | 425 |
| August | 0 | 375 |
| September | 23 | 197 |
| October | 213 | 34 |
| November | 493 | 2 |
| December | 728 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,813 | 1,468 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00447925. 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 South Boston been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 58.7°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.5°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.8°F | +0.3°F | 36.71 | 3.0 |
| 2022 | 57.9°F | −0.6°F | 52.08 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 59.3°F | +0.8°F | 44.07 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 60.6°F | +2.1°F | 53.06 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 58.7°F | +0.2°F | 40.98 | 5.9 |
Over 32 complete years from 1985 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00447925; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does South Boston's climate compare?
South Boston is warmer than 61 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 44. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.5°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, South Boston 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 South Boston 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.
- Mountain Road, VA1,517 people · 7 mi NW
- Riverdale, VA1,129 people · 2 mi SW
- Halifax, VA1,090 people · 5 mi NW
- Cluster Springs, VA1,038 people · 7 mi S
- Clover, VA836 people · 13 mi NE
- Scottsburg, VA124 people · 7 mi NE
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 South Boston's climate
What is the coldest month in South Boston?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in South Boston?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in South Boston?
June, with 4.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.95 in.
What plant hardiness zone is South Boston in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts South Boston in zone 7b in ZIP code 24592. By the same method at South Boston's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in South Boston?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 10; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clarksville, VA19 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Chase City, VA23 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Roxboro, NC24 miles from this station, 58.2°F a year
- Brookneal, VA26 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made