Tazewell, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tazewell's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 54.7 inches of precipitation and 8 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.3°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,389 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTazewell
- Station IDUSC00408868
- Location36.47°N 83.56°W
- Elevation1,365 ft (416 m)
- Population2,380
On October 23, the normal high in Tazewell is 66°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 34%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tazewell.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 48° 26°
- Mar 57° 32°
- Apr 68° 40°
- May 75° 50°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 85° 63°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 79° 55°
- Oct 69° 41°
- Nov 57° 31°
- Dec 47° 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 Tazewell each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.32 in), the least in October (3.08 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 23°F | 33.3°F | 4.73 | 2.6 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| February | 48°F | 26°F | 37.0°F | 5.06 | 3.0 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 32°F | 44.4°F | 5.25 | 0.6 | 15 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 40°F | 53.5°F | 5.30 | 0.1 | 13 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 50°F | 62.6°F | 4.23 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 5.04 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 63°F | 74.0°F | 5.24 | 0.0 | 14 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.0°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 55°F | 67.1°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 41°F | 55.2°F | 3.08 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 31°F | 43.9°F | 3.81 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 47°F | 26°F | 36.6°F | 5.32 | 1.4 | 15 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 42°F | 54.2°F | 54.68 | 7.9 | 151 | 19 | 115 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 120 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 9°C | −4°C | 2.8°C | 129 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 14°C | 0°C | 6.9°C | 133 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 20°C | 4°C | 11.9°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 10°C | 17.0°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.5°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 5°C | 12.9°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.6°C | 135 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00408868; 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 Tazewell?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USC00408868.
When is the last frost in Tazewell?
In Tazewell, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 23 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 8 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 231 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 8; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 177 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 199 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tazewell in zone 7a in ZIP code 37879, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tazewell's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00408868; 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 Tazewell?
In a normal year in Tazewell, 19 days a year reach 90°F, 115 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 151 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 115a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 151a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1966) is 103°F, on June 30, 2012; the lowest is −24°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 72.14 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 40.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00408868; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00408868. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tazewell?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tazewell, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (79%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 76% | 5.9 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 74% | 2.7 |
| December | 64% | 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 Tazewell need?
A normal year in Tazewell brings 4,786 heating degree days, 11% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 893 cooling degree days, 2% 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 3,464 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 981 | 0 |
| February | 785 | 0 |
| March | 639 | 0 |
| April | 350 | 6 |
| May | 132 | 56 |
| June | 16 | 177 |
| July | 1 | 280 |
| August | 2 | 250 |
| September | 51 | 113 |
| October | 317 | 12 |
| November | 633 | 0 |
| December | 879 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,786 | 893 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00408868. 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 Tazewell been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.4°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.2°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.8°F | +0.5°F | 52.35 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 56.9°F | +2.7°F | 46.55 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | 57.6°F | +3.4°F | 54.15 | 9.3 |
| 2025 | 56.4°F | +2.2°F | 50.94 | 5.6 |
Over 48 complete years from 1967 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.1°F per century (+0.29°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00408868; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tazewell's climate compare?
Tazewell is warmer than 2 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.2°F is warmer than 58%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tazewell 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 Tazewell 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.
- Middlesborough, KY8,899 people · 14 mi NW
- Harrogate, TN4,438 people · 9 mi NW
- New Tazewell, TN2,824 people · 3 mi SW
- Pineville, KY1,566 people · 21 mi NW
- Ewing, VA441 people · 14 mi NE
- Cumberland Gap, TN313 people · 11 mi NW
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 Tazewell's climate
What is the coldest month in Tazewell?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Tazewell?
Yes: 8 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tazewell?
December, with 5.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.08 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tazewell in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tazewell in zone 7a in ZIP code 37879, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tazewell's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Tazewell?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 23; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Morristown, TN22 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Jefferson City, TN24 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Baxter, KY30 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Rogersville, TN32 miles from this station, 56.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made