Tarboro, NC 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 Tarboro's primary NOAA station, TARBORO 1 S.
The climate verdict for Tarboro
Water is the standout signal in Tarboro, North Carolina: 47.6 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 60°F. It scores 93/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 93% of them.
- 60°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 93/100
- comfort score, above 93% of station-mapped location scores
- 47.6"
- annual precipitation · 5" snow
- 224 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Tarboro: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00318500 · Tarboro, NC 60°F mean · 47.6" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 60°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,214
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Bagdad
- PRCP-MID 47.6"
- SWING-MID 39°F
- COMF-TOP 93/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00318500
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Bagdad, AZ (+ 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 NC station list.
- Tarboro (this station) 60°F
- Hot Chester, SC 60°F
- Near Bagdad, AZ 60°F
- Near Ben Lomond, CA 60°F
- Near Chatham Wtp, NC 60°F
Climate Living Index · Tarboro
Tarboro: 77/100 · grade B
Tarboro publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Tarboro, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 93/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 53 calendar days | 91/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 224 days/year | 79/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 60.4°F · 7.1° from 67.5°F | 78/100 · B |
| Snowfall burden | 4.8 inches/year | 71/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 47.6 in · 12.6 from 35 in | 56/100 · C |
Tarboro · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Tarboro is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 40.8°F and warmest-month mean 79.8°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 79.8°F
- Coldest month
- 40.8°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 · balanced station
Where Tarboro sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Tarboro's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 24% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Tarboro sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 25% wettest
- Tarboro's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 31st percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Tarboro compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Tarboro's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
93 Top 7% score exceeds 93% 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%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Tarboro's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 101 complete annual observations from 1872 to 2024, TARBORO 1 S warmed at a fitted rate of 0.04°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Tarboro primary station fitted change +0.05 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F (11°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 3.3" | 1.9" | 19.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 55°F (13°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 3.0" | 0.9" | 15.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 62°F (17°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.7" | 0.1" | 9.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 72°F (22°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| May | 79°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.4 |
| June | 86°F (30°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.5 |
| July | 89°F (32°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 4.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 15.9 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.0 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 6.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| October | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| November | 63°F (17°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 8.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 55°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 3.4" | 1.9" | 16.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 53 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 30°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 16, then returns to freezing around December 26, covering 53 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 July 30, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 15 at 23%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 113 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Tarboro.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 1.9"
10.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
9.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
10.8 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
9.9 days with precipitation
Tarboro 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 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Tarboro has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 39°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: September averages 6.2" and February 3.0". The three wettest months together take 34% 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.
When it rains in Tarboro, it arrives in quantity
47.6" of precipitation falls across only about 113 wet days here, averaging 0.42 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 113 a year, 31% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.42 inches
- Most wet days
- March, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- October, about 7
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Snow reaches Tarboro, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 4.8 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 2 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 9
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
224 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,322
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,688
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NC closest to Tarboro 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 (60°F here).
- Bagdad, AZ 60°F · 0.0°F off
- Ben Lomond, CA 60°F · 0.0°F off
- Chester, SC 60°F · 0.0°F off
- Cushing, OK 60°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (47.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cooperstown, NY 47.6" · 0.0" off
- Harrisburg, IL 47.6" · 0.0" off
- Drain, OR 47.6" · 0.0" off
- Stony Creek, VA 47.6" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Tarboro's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Tarboro averages 47.6 inches of precipitation a year. Annual snowfall totals 4.8 inches. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Tarboro's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 39.0°F. The annual average is 60°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Tarboro's normal, at 3,322 and 1,688 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 224-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Tarboro's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Tarboro, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Tarboro's climate
How much rain does Tarboro get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Tarboro get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Tarboro? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Tarboro's primary station: TARBORO 1 S (USC00318500). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3766700). Match rule for Tarboro: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Tarboro 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.