Syracuse, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Syracuse's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 39.9 inches of precipitation and 128 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,013 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSyracuse Hancock International Airport
- Station IDUSW00014771
- Location43.11°N 76.10°W
- Elevation413 ft (126 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population146,097
On October 14, the normal high in Syracuse is 61°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 48%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Syracuse.
- Jan 32° 17°
- Feb 34° 18°
- Mar 42° 25°
- Apr 56° 36°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 77° 57°
- Jul 82° 62°
- Aug 80° 60°
- Sep 73° 53°
- Oct 60° 42°
- Nov 48° 33°
- Dec 37° 24°
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 Syracuse each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in October (3.89 in), the least in February (2.46 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 17°F | 24.1°F | 2.58 | 34.0 | 19 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 34°F | 18°F | 25.5°F | 2.46 | 30.3 | 17 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 42°F | 25°F | 33.8°F | 3.04 | 19.8 | 16 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 36°F | 46.3°F | 3.48 | 3.0 | 15 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.2°F | 3.42 | 0.1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 57°F | 67.0°F | 3.56 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 62°F | 71.8°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 60°F | 70.4°F | 3.70 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 53°F | 62.9°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 42°F | 51.3°F | 3.89 | 0.2 | 15 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 33°F | 40.5°F | 3.23 | 9.8 | 16 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 37°F | 24°F | 30.4°F | 3.28 | 30.6 | 19 | <1 | 25 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 39°F | 48.5°F | 39.88 | 127.8 | 174 | 10 | 133 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.4°C | 66 mm | 86 cm |
| February | 1°C | −8°C | −3.6°C | 62 mm | 77 cm |
| March | 6°C | −4°C | 1.0°C | 77 mm | 50 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 88 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.4°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.3°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 12°C | 17.2°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 6°C | 10.7°C | 99 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 9°C | 0°C | 4.7°C | 82 mm | 25 cm |
| December | 3°C | −5°C | −0.9°C | 83 mm | 78 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014771; 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 Syracuse?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USW00014771.
When is the last frost in Syracuse?
In Syracuse, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 2 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 291 year in 10 after May 13; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 200 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before November 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Syracuse in zone 6a across its 12 ZIP code areas (6a in 13204, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Syracuse's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014771; 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 Syracuse ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Syracuse's 12 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6a. 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 Syracuse?
In a normal year in Syracuse, 10 days a year reach 90°F, 133 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 174 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 10a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 133a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 47high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 174a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 34a normal year
The highest temperature in Syracuse's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1902) is 102°F, on July 9, 1936; the lowest is −26°F, on January 26, 1966.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1976, with 58.17 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 192.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014771; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record SYRthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Syracuse, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 60°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 61°F; the driest air comes in January (16°F). December is the windiest month (9.8 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (36%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°F | 71% | 63% | 9.3 mph | 13% | 65% |
| February | 20°F | 70% | 59% | 9.7 mph | 13% | 62% |
| March | 29°F | 64% | 49% | 9.3 mph | 21% | 54% |
| April | 39°F | 60% | 44% | 8.4 mph | 25% | 43% |
| May | 52°F | 67% | 51% | 7.5 mph | 22% | 36% |
| June | 60°F | 68% | 52% | 7.1 mph | 24% | 25% |
| July | 61°F | 70% | 53% | 6.6 mph | 26% | 25% |
| August | 59°F | 73% | 53% | 6.3 mph | 36% | 25% |
| September | 49°F | 74% | 57% | 7.2 mph | 30% | 38% |
| October | 37°F | 71% | 59% | 8.5 mph | 15% | 55% |
| November | 29°F | 74% | 66% | 9.4 mph | 8% | 70% |
| December | 21°F | 74% | 67% | 9.8 mph | 9% | 71% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014771. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Syracuse?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Syracuse, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (47%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 445th (with 3 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 51% | 1.3 |
| February | 54% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.3 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 76% | 4.2 |
| October | 63% | 2.5 |
| November | 58% | 1.6 |
| December | 47% | 1.0 |
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 Syracuse need?
A normal year in Syracuse brings 6,588 heating degree days, 23% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 619 cooling degree days, 32% 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 2,710 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,268 | 0 |
| February | 1,105 | 0 |
| March | 967 | 0 |
| April | 565 | 4 |
| May | 243 | 34 |
| June | 55 | 115 |
| July | 6 | 218 |
| August | 14 | 180 |
| September | 126 | 63 |
| October | 431 | 5 |
| November | 735 | 0 |
| December | 1,073 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,588 | 619 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014771. 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 Syracuse been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.4°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.0°F | +3.5°F | 47.84 | 72.2 |
| 2022 | 50.0°F | +1.5°F | 37.08 | 82.4 |
| 2023 | 51.8°F | +3.3°F | 44.55 | 55.8 |
| 2024 | 53.3°F | +4.8°F | 41.82 | 71.5 |
| 2025 | 49.4°F | +0.9°F | 39.98 | 172.9 |
Over 114 complete years from 1843 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014771; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Syracuse's climate compare?
Syracuse is warmer than 82 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.5°F is warmer than 34%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Syracuse 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 Syracuse share this climate record?
19 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.
- De Witt, NY10,815 people · 6 mi S
- Fairmount, NY9,998 people · 9 mi SW
- North Syracuse, NY6,761 people · 2 mi NW
- Solvay, NY6,495 people · 7 mi SW
- Mattydale, NY5,978 people · 2 mi SW
- Westvale, NY5,293 people · 8 mi SW
- Chittenango, NY4,780 people · 12 mi E
- Manlius, NY4,611 people · 10 mi SE
- Galeville, NY4,200 people · 5 mi W
- Fayetteville, NY4,180 people · 8 mi SE
- Lyncourt, NY4,138 people · 2 mi SW
- Minoa, NY3,657 people · 5 mi SE
- East Syracuse, NY3,008 people · 4 mi SE
- Lakeland, NY2,344 people · 7 mi W
- Seneca Knolls, NY2,308 people · 9 mi W
- Liverpool, NY2,257 people · 5 mi W
- Nedrow, NY2,086 people · 9 mi S
- Bridgeport, NY1,320 people · 8 mi NE
- Camillus, NY1,274 people · 12 mi SW
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 Syracuse's climate
What is the coldest month in Syracuse?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Syracuse?
Yes: 128 inches in a normal year, falling on 66 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (34.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Syracuse?
October, with 3.89 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Syracuse in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Syracuse in zone 6a across its 12 ZIP code areas (6a in 13204, the largest). By the same method at Syracuse's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Syracuse?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 13. Waiting until May 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Syracuse in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Brewerton, NY10 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Camden, NY20 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Fulton, NY22 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Tully, NY24 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made