Thorsby, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Thorsby's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 56.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.9°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,427 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationThorsby Experiment Station
- Station IDUSC00018209
- Location32.92°N 86.67°W
- Elevation680 ft (207 m)
- Population2,190
On October 14, the normal high in Thorsby is 77°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Thorsby.
- Jan 55° 33°
- Feb 59° 36°
- Mar 67° 43°
- Apr 74° 49°
- May 82° 58°
- Jun 87° 66°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 90° 68°
- Sep 85° 63°
- Oct 76° 51°
- Nov 66° 41°
- Dec 57° 35°
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 Thorsby each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.83 in), the least in October (2.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 33°F | 44.0°F | 5.60 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 36°F | 47.9°F | 5.65 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 5.83 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 49°F | 61.9°F | 4.79 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 4.09 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 87°F | 66°F | 76.4°F | 4.78 | 9 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.3°F | 5.37 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 68°F | 78.9°F | 4.09 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 85°F | 63°F | 74.1°F | 3.59 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 51°F | 63.8°F | 2.88 | 5 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 4.34 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 35°F | 46.4°F | 5.18 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 56.19 | 95 | 56 | 46 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 142 mm |
| February | 15°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 144 mm |
| March | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 148 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 122 mm |
| May | 28°C | 14°C | 20.9°C | 104 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 121 mm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 26.3°C | 136 mm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 26.1°C | 104 mm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 91 mm |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 73 mm |
| November | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 110 mm |
| December | 14°C | 2°C | 8.0°C | 132 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Clanton station (8 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00018209; 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 Thorsby?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00018209.
When is the last frost in Thorsby?
In Thorsby, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 21 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 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 211 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after February 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 235 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 262 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 7 in half of springs and before November 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Thorsby in zone 8a in ZIP code 35171.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00018209; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Thorsby?
In a normal year in Thorsby, 56 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 46 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 95 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 56a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 46a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 95a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1957) is 104°F, on July 7, 1977; the lowest is −4°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 74.78 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 9.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00018209; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00018209. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Thorsby?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Thorsby, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.8 |
| February | 69% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 81% | 6.3 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 3.2 |
| December | 70% | 2.4 |
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 Thorsby need?
A normal year in Thorsby brings 2,686 heating degree days, 50% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,816 cooling degree days, 2.0 times 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 5,289 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 650 | 1 |
| February | 481 | 1 |
| March | 329 | 12 |
| April | 138 | 45 |
| May | 30 | 176 |
| June | 1 | 344 |
| July | 0 | 442 |
| August | 0 | 431 |
| September | 6 | 277 |
| October | 114 | 77 |
| November | 357 | 9 |
| December | 580 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,686 | 1,816 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00018209. 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 Thorsby been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 63.5°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.5°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 65.4°F | +2.9°F | 57.49 |
| 2025 | 63.5°F | +1.0°F | 66.23 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00018209. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Thorsby's climate compare?
Thorsby is warmer than 29 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 22. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.5°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Thorsby 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 Thorsby 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.
- Jemison, AL2,999 people · 5 mi NW
- Maplesville, AL660 people · 15 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 Thorsby's climate
What is the coldest month in Thorsby?
January, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Thorsby?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Thorsby's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Clanton station (8 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Thorsby?
March, with 5.83 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Thorsby in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Thorsby in zone 8a in ZIP code 35171.
How late can frost come in Thorsby?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 21; 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
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clanton, AL6 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Alabaster, AL19 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Helena, AL26 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Rockford, AL29 miles from this station, 62.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made