Southport, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Southport's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 54.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.3°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,388 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSouthport (5 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00318113
- Location33.99°N 78.01°W
- Elevation20 ft (6 m)
- Population4,341
On October 23, the normal high in Southport is 77°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Southport.
- Jan 60° 36°
- Feb 63° 38°
- Mar 68° 43°
- Apr 76° 51°
- May 83° 60°
- Jun 88° 69°
- Jul 92° 73°
- Aug 90° 71°
- Sep 87° 66°
- Oct 79° 54°
- Nov 70° 44°
- Dec 63° 38°
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 Southport each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in September (8.16 in), the least in April (3.08 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F | 36°F | 47.8°F | 3.70 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 63°F | 38°F | 50.1°F | 3.32 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 43°F | 55.5°F | 4.03 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 76°F | 51°F | 63.3°F | 3.08 | 6 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 3.44 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 88°F | 69°F | 78.7°F | 4.02 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 73°F | 82.2°F | 5.55 | 10 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 71°F | 80.8°F | 6.77 | 11 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 66°F | 76.3°F | 8.16 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 79°F | 54°F | 66.6°F | 5.41 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 70°F | 44°F | 57.1°F | 3.42 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 63°F | 38°F | 50.5°F | 3.74 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 54°F | 65.0°F | 54.64 | 102 | 46 | 51 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 94 mm |
| February | 17°C | 3°C | 10.1°C | 84 mm |
| March | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 102 mm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.4°C | 78 mm |
| May | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 87 mm |
| June | 31°C | 21°C | 25.9°C | 102 mm |
| July | 33°C | 23°C | 27.9°C | 141 mm |
| August | 32°C | 22°C | 27.1°C | 172 mm |
| September | 30°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 207 mm |
| October | 26°C | 12°C | 19.2°C | 137 mm |
| November | 21°C | 7°C | 13.9°C | 87 mm |
| December | 17°C | 3°C | 10.3°C | 95 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Wilmington (20 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00318113; 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 Southport?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00318113.
When is the last frost in Southport?
In Southport, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 24 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 17 in half of years and before October 31 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 241 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after March 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 171 year in 10 before October 31; 9 in 10 before December 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 239 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 268 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 8 in half of springs and before December 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Southport in zone 8b in ZIP code 28461, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00318113; 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 Southport?
In a normal year in Southport, 46 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 51 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 102 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 51a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 102a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 103°F, on June 26, 1952; the lowest is −3°F, on December 25, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1946, with 84.98 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 5.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00318113; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00318113. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Southport?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Southport, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.7 |
| February | 72% | 3.4 |
| March | 76% | 4.5 |
| April | 83% | 5.9 |
| May | 83% | 6.4 |
| June | 84% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.3 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 80% | 4.0 |
| November | 78% | 3.0 |
| December | 74% | 2.4 |
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 Southport need?
A normal year in Southport brings 2,203 heating degree days, 59% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,232 cooling degree days, 2.5 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,948 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 538 | 4 |
| February | 421 | 3 |
| March | 313 | 17 |
| April | 118 | 69 |
| May | 17 | 211 |
| June | 0 | 411 |
| July | 0 | 533 |
| August | 0 | 490 |
| September | 2 | 340 |
| October | 71 | 122 |
| November | 263 | 26 |
| December | 459 | 8 |
| Year (annual) | 2,203 | 2,232 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00318113. 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 Southport's climate compare?
Southport is warmer than 130 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 92. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 65.0°F is warmer than 88%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Southport 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 Southport share this climate record?
8 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.
- Oak Island, NC9,322 people · 9 mi SW
- St. James, NC7,315 people · 6 mi SW
- Carolina Beach, NC6,864 people · 7 mi NE
- Boiling Spring Lakes, NC6,738 people · 5 mi NW
- Kure Beach, NC2,154 people · 6 mi E
- Caswell Beach, NC387 people · 7 mi S
- Bald Head Island, NC278 people · 9 mi S
- Bolivia, NC254 people · 10 mi NW
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 Southport's climate
What is the coldest month in Southport?
January, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Southport?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Southport's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Wilmington (20 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Southport?
September, with 8.16 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 3.08 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Southport in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Southport in zone 8b in ZIP code 28461, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Southport?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 24; in one year in ten it comes after April 10. Waiting until April 10 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
- Myrtle Grove, NC12 miles from this station, 64.1°F a year
- Wilmington, NC20 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Shallotte, NC22 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Longwood, NC31 miles from this station, 62.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made