Tarboro, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tarboro's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 47.6 inches of precipitation and 5 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.8°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,209 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTarboro (1 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00318500
- Location35.88°N 77.54°W
- Elevation35 ft (11 m)
- Population10,954
On October 22, the normal high in Tarboro is 71°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tarboro.
- Jan 51° 30°
- Feb 55° 32°
- Mar 62° 38°
- Apr 72° 47°
- May 79° 57°
- Jun 86° 66°
- Jul 89° 70°
- Aug 87° 69°
- Sep 82° 63°
- Oct 73° 50°
- Nov 63° 40°
- Dec 55° 34°
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 Tarboro each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in September (6.22 in), the least in February (2.99 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 30°F | 40.8°F | 3.27 | 1.9 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 32°F | 43.3°F | 2.99 | 0.9 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 38°F | 50.1°F | 3.71 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 47°F | 59.4°F | 3.63 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 57°F | 68.0°F | 3.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 66°F | 75.9°F | 4.27 | 0.0 | 10 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 70°F | 79.8°F | 4.92 | 0.0 | 11 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 69°F | 78.1°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 63°F | 72.5°F | 6.22 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 50°F | 61.6°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 40°F | 51.3°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 34°F | 44.4°F | 3.39 | 1.9 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 50°F | 60.4°F | 47.59 | 4.8 | 113 | 43 | 70 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −1°C | 4.9°C | 83 mm | 5 cm |
| February | 13°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 76 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 17°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 20.0°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.4°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 21°C | 25.6°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 17°C | 22.5°C | 158 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.7°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 86 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00318500; 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 Tarboro?
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 USC00318500.
When is the last frost in Tarboro?
In Tarboro, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 30 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 9 in half of years and before October 29 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
- March 301 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after March 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 91 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before November 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 226 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 251 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 15 in half of springs and before November 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tarboro in zone 8a in ZIP code 27886, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tarboro's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (26 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00318500; 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 Tarboro?
In a normal year in Tarboro, 43 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 70 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 113 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 43a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 70a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 113a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1887) is 107°F, on July 18, 1942; the lowest is −5°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1989, with 62.82 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 32.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00318500; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00318500. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tarboro?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tarboro, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 Tarboro need?
A normal year in Tarboro brings 3,322 heating degree days, 38% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,688 cooling degree days, 86% 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 4,836 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 752 | 1 |
| February | 609 | 1 |
| March | 466 | 6 |
| April | 207 | 39 |
| May | 56 | 147 |
| June | 4 | 331 |
| July | 0 | 459 |
| August | 0 | 406 |
| September | 13 | 236 |
| October | 159 | 54 |
| November | 415 | 6 |
| December | 640 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 3,322 | 1,688 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00318500. 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 Tarboro been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 61.8°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 60.4°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.8°F | +0.4°F | – | – |
| 2022 | 60.7°F | +0.3°F | – | – |
| 2023 | 61.8°F | +1.4°F | 36.81 | – |
Over 101 complete years from 1872 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°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 USC00318500; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tarboro's climate compare?
Tarboro is warmer than 73 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 34. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.4°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tarboro 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 Tarboro share this climate record?
6 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.
- Bethel, NC1,407 people · 11 mi SE
- Princeville, NC1,286 people · 1 mi NE
- Hobgood, NC260 people · 13 mi NE
- Conetoe, NC200 people · 6 mi SE
- Speed, NC65 people · 8 mi NE
- Leggett, NC35 people · 8 mi N
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 Tarboro's climate
What is the coldest month in Tarboro?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Tarboro?
Yes: 5 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (1.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tarboro?
September, with 6.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.99 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tarboro in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tarboro in zone 8a in ZIP code 27886, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tarboro's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Tarboro?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 30; in one year in ten it comes after April 10. Waiting until April 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rocky Mount (8 mi ESE), NC8 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Greenville, NC19 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Rocky Mount, NC20 miles from this station, 60.5°F a year
- Wilson, NC26 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made