Southside, WV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Southside's primary NOAA station, SOUTHSIDE 3 NNW.
The climate verdict for Southside
Water is the standout signal in Southside, West Virginia: 46.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 52°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 52°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 46.2"
- annual precipitation
- 174 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Southside: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00468351 · Southside, WV 52°F mean · 46.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Wapato
- PRCP-MID 46.2"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,404 HDD
- STN-1 USC00468351
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Wapato, WA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WV station list.
- Southside (this station) 52°F
- Cold Wheeling Ohio C…, WV 52°F
- Hot Cacapon State P…, WV 52°F
- Near Wapato, WA 52°F
- Near Pittsburgh Alle…, PA 52°F
Climate Living Index · Southside
Southside: 51/100 · grade D
Southside publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Southside, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 46.2 in · 11.2 from 35 in | 61/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 52.3°F · 15.2° from 67.5°F | 50/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 146 calendar days | 49/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 174 days/year | 45/100 · D |
Southside · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Southside is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.9°F and warmest-month mean 73.3°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 73.3°F
- Coldest month
- 29.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Southside sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Southside's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 50th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 29% wettest
- Southside's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 50th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Southside compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Southside's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F (5°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 3.2" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 44°F (7°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 3.0" | 24.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 53°F (11°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 4.3" | 20.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.6" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 4.5" | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| July | 85°F (29°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 5.2" | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| October | 67°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.8" | 5.3 | 0.1 |
| November | 54°F (12°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 3.0" | 18.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (7°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.5" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 4, short of 90°F on every date, while 146 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 19°F near January 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 31, then returns to freezing around November 7, covering 146 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 1, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 28 at 28%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 140 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Southside.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
13.9 days with precipitation
11.8 days with precipitation
12.4 days with precipitation
12.3 days with precipitation
13.2 days with precipitation
12.2 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
13.6 days with precipitation
Southside spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 30% of the annual total and December through February 21%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Southside has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 5.2" and October 2.8". The three wettest months together take 31% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Southside's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 140 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 46.2" between them, or roughly 0.33 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 19
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 28
50% probability date
Growing Season
174 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,404
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
812
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WV closest to Southside on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (52°F here).
- Albany, MO 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Avondale, PA 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Benkelman, NE 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Bremerton, WA 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (46.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Emporia, VA 46.2" · 0.0" off
- Paintsville, KY 46.2" · 0.0" off
- Appomattox, VA 46.2" · 0.0" off
- Greencastle, IN 46.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Southside's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
Southside's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,404 annual heating degree days against 812 for cooling. Its 43.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Southside's frost-free season lasts about 174 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Southside's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 43.4°F. The annual average is 52°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, Southside carries 46.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Southside's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Southside, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Southside's climate
How much rain does Southside get? ▼
How cold does Southside get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Southside? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Southside's primary station: SOUTHSIDE 3 NNW (USC00468351). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Southside; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Southside comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.