State College, Pennsylvania climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
State College's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 41.5 inches of precipitation and 44 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,055 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationState College
- Station IDUSC00368449
- Location40.79°N 77.87°W
- Elevation1,170 ft (357 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population41,228
On October 23, the normal high in State College is 58°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for State College.
- Jan 34° 21°
- Feb 37° 22°
- Mar 46° 28°
- Apr 59° 39°
- May 69° 50°
- Jun 77° 59°
- Jul 81° 63°
- Aug 79° 62°
- Sep 72° 54°
- Oct 61° 43°
- Nov 49° 34°
- Dec 38° 26°
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 State College each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.16 in), the least in February (2.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 21°F | 27.2°F | 2.92 | 11.3 | 14 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 22°F | 29.1°F | 2.46 | 11.6 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 46°F | 28°F | 37.0°F | 3.38 | 9.4 | 12 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 39°F | 49.3°F | 3.51 | 0.9 | 14 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 50°F | 59.8°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 77°F | 59°F | 68.1°F | 4.09 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 81°F | 63°F | 72.2°F | 3.79 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 79°F | 62°F | 70.4°F | 4.16 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 72°F | 54°F | 63.2°F | 3.95 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 43°F | 51.9°F | 3.46 | 0.4 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 34°F | 41.2°F | 2.99 | 2.6 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 26°F | 32.2°F | 3.18 | 7.6 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 42°F | 50.1°F | 41.53 | 43.8 | 146 | 6 | 122 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −6°C | −2.7°C | 74 mm | 29 cm |
| February | 3°C | −6°C | −1.6°C | 62 mm | 29 cm |
| March | 8°C | −2°C | 2.8°C | 86 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 15°C | 4°C | 9.6°C | 89 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 21°C | 10°C | 15.4°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 15°C | 20.1°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 16°C | 21.3°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 12°C | 17.3°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 6°C | 11.1°C | 88 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 9°C | 1°C | 5.1°C | 76 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 4°C | −3°C | 0.1°C | 81 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00368449; 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 State College?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00368449.
When is the last frost in State College?
In State College, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 26 in half of years and before October 10 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 201 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 261 year in 10 before October 10; 9 in 10 before November 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 187 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 211 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts State College in zone 6b across its 2 ZIP code areas (6b in 16801, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, State College's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (30 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 Pennsylvania · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00368449; 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.
What hardiness zone is each State College ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. State College's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in State College?
In a normal year in State College, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 122 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 146 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 122a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 146a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1882) is 102°F, on July 9, 1936; the lowest is −20°F, on February 10, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 63.75 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 109.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00368449; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00368449. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is State College?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around State College, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (77%) and December the cloudiest (58%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 1.8 |
| February | 65% | 2.6 |
| March | 64% | 3.6 |
| April | 67% | 4.7 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 73% | 4.2 |
| October | 67% | 2.9 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 58% | 1.4 |
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 State College need?
A normal year in State College brings 6,049 heating degree days, 13% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 666 cooling degree days, 27% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,874 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,172 | 0 |
| February | 1,004 | 0 |
| March | 870 | 0 |
| April | 477 | 6 |
| May | 203 | 44 |
| June | 41 | 136 |
| July | 5 | 228 |
| August | 12 | 181 |
| September | 117 | 63 |
| October | 416 | 8 |
| November | 716 | 0 |
| December | 1,017 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,049 | 666 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00368449. 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 State College been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.8°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.7°F | +2.6°F | 45.94 | 32.3 |
| 2022 | 51.1°F | +1.0°F | 39.80 | 43.0 |
| 2023 | 52.9°F | +2.8°F | 39.97 | 11.1 |
| 2024 | 53.0°F | +2.9°F | 43.18 | 28.0 |
| 2025 | 50.8°F | +0.7°F | 38.36 | 21.8 |
Over 120 complete years from 1890 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.7°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00368449; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does State College's climate compare?
State College is warmer than 47 of the other 107 places with their own NOAA record in Pennsylvania, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.1°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, State College is Dfa: continental, 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 State College share this climate record?
18 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.
- Park Forest Village, PA8,810 people · 2 mi W
- Bellefonte, PA5,986 people · 10 mi NE
- Boalsburg, PA4,653 people · 5 mi E
- Pleasant Gap, PA3,154 people · 8 mi NE
- Stormstown, PA2,455 people · 8 mi W
- Toftrees, PA2,348 people · 2 mi NW
- Houserville, PA2,145 people · 3 mi NE
- Lemont, PA2,099 people · 3 mi NE
- Pine Grove Mills, PA1,653 people · 4 mi S
- Centre Hall, PA1,253 people · 10 mi E
- Ramblewood, PA892 people · 6 mi SW
- Continental Courts, PA717 people · 5 mi N
- Port Matilda, PA584 people · 10 mi W
- Unionville, PA262 people · 8 mi N
- Julian, PA183 people · 6 mi NW
- Eagle Creek, PA136 people · 7 mi N
- Baileyville, PA86 people · 9 mi SW
- Peru, PA65 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 State College's climate
What is the coldest month in State College?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in State College?
Yes: 44 inches in a normal year, falling on 29 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (11.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in State College?
August, with 4.16 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is State College in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts State College in zone 6b across its 2 ZIP code areas (6b in 16801, the largest). By the same method at State College's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in State College?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Pennsylvania climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clarence, PA18 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Philipsburg, PA19 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Lewistown, PA21 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Millheim, PA22 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