Summer Shade, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Summer Shade's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 49.6 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.8°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,260 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSummer Shade
- Station IDUSC00157800
- Location36.89°N 85.71°W
- Elevation864 ft (263 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population (census place)295
On October 23, the normal high in Summer Shade is 70°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Summer Shade.
- Jan 48° 24°
- Feb 53° 27°
- Mar 61° 34°
- Apr 72° 43°
- May 80° 52°
- Jun 86° 59°
- Jul 90° 63°
- Aug 89° 61°
- Sep 82° 55°
- Oct 73° 44°
- Nov 61° 33°
- Dec 51° 27°
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 Summer Shade each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in March (4.79 in), the least in October (3.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 24°F | 35.8°F | 3.87 | 3.2 | 10 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 53°F | 27°F | 40.0°F | 4.15 | 1.8 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 34°F | 47.4°F | 4.79 | 0.8 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 43°F | 57.5°F | 4.28 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 80°F | 52°F | 65.5°F | 4.60 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 59°F | 72.8°F | 4.44 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 63°F | 76.2°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 9 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 89°F | 61°F | 75.0°F | 4.07 | 0.0 | 7 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 55°F | 68.7°F | 3.73 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 44°F | 58.1°F | 3.56 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 33°F | 47.1°F | 3.62 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 51°F | 27°F | 39.0°F | 4.57 | 1.4 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 43°F | 56.9°F | 49.60 | 7.2 | 114 | 34 | 101 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 98 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 12°C | −3°C | 4.4°C | 105 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 16°C | 1°C | 8.6°C | 122 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 6°C | 14.2°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 11°C | 18.6°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 15°C | 22.7°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 17°C | 24.6°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 16°C | 23.9°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 13°C | 20.4°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 7°C | 14.5°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 1°C | 8.4°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | −3°C | 3.9°C | 116 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00157800; 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 Summer Shade?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00157800.
When is the last frost in Summer Shade?
In Summer Shade, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 5 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 261 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 174 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 12 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Summer Shade in zone 7a in ZIP code 42166, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Summer Shade's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 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 Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00157800; 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 Summer Shade?
In a normal year in Summer Shade, 34 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 101 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 101a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1950) is 110°F, on July 15, 2004; the lowest is −26°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1979, with 66.76 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 50.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00157800; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00157800. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Summer Shade?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Summer Shade, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.3 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 63% | 1.9 |
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 Summer Shade need?
A normal year in Summer Shade brings 4,128 heating degree days, 23% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,215 cooling degree days, 34% 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 4,103 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 905 | 0 |
| February | 699 | 1 |
| March | 548 | 4 |
| April | 256 | 31 |
| May | 81 | 98 |
| June | 9 | 243 |
| July | 0 | 347 |
| August | 1 | 310 |
| September | 41 | 150 |
| October | 243 | 29 |
| November | 539 | 2 |
| December | 806 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,128 | 1,215 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00157800. 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 Summer Shade's climate compare?
Summer Shade is warmer than 45 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.9°F is warmer than 66%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Summer Shade 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 Summer Shade share this climate record?
2 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.
- Tompkinsville, KY2,239 people · 13 mi S
- Marrowbone, KY56 people · 12 mi E
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 Summer Shade's climate
What is the coldest month in Summer Shade?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Summer Shade?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Summer Shade?
March, with 4.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Summer Shade in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Summer Shade in zone 7a in ZIP code 42166, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Summer Shade's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Summer Shade?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Knob Lick (4 mi S), KY9 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Glasgow, KY14 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- Barren River Lake, KY23 miles from this station, 57.4°F a year
- Greensburg, KY28 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made