Townsend, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Townsend's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 60.3 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.8°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,532 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTownsend (5 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00409065
- Location35.60°N 83.78°W
- Elevation1,893 ft (577 m)
- Population628
On October 22, the normal high in Townsend is 66°F and the normal low 42°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 Townsend.
- Jan 47° 26°
- Feb 51° 29°
- Mar 59° 35°
- Apr 69° 43°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 79° 59°
- Jul 82° 63°
- Aug 81° 61°
- Sep 77° 56°
- Oct 68° 44°
- Nov 59° 34°
- Dec 50° 29°
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 Townsend each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in July (6.07 in), the least in October (3.30 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 26°F | 36.3°F | 5.61 | 3.2 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| February | 51°F | 29°F | 39.6°F | 4.91 | 3.5 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 59°F | 35°F | 46.6°F | 5.25 | 0.9 | 14 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 43°F | 55.7°F | 5.21 | 0.2 | 13 | <1 | 5 | 13 h |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.4°F | 5.06 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 79°F | 59°F | 69.1°F | 5.52 | 0.0 | 15 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 63°F | 72.1°F | 6.07 | 0.0 | 16 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 61°F | 70.9°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 14 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 77°F | 56°F | 66.3°F | 4.95 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 44°F | 55.9°F | 3.30 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 34°F | 46.1°F | 4.39 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 29°F | 39.8°F | 5.64 | 1.3 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 44°F | 55.1°F | 60.32 | 9.4 | 157 | 5 | 101 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −4°C | 2.4°C | 142 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 10°C | −2°C | 4.2°C | 125 mm | 9 cm |
| March | 15°C | 1°C | 8.1°C | 133 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 20°C | 6°C | 13.2°C | 132 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.1°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 112 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 10°C | −1°C | 4.3°C | 143 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00409065; 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 Townsend?
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 USC00409065.
When is the last frost in Townsend?
In Townsend, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 9 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 201 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 185 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 210 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 4 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Townsend in zone 7b in ZIP code 37886, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Townsend's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (17 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00409065; 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 Townsend?
In a normal year in Townsend, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 101 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 157 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 101a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 157a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00409065.
How sunny is Townsend?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Townsend, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (77%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.3 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 77% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.7 |
| October | 76% | 3.8 |
| November | 76% | 2.9 |
| December | 68% | 2.2 |
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 Townsend need?
A normal year in Townsend brings 4,319 heating degree days, 20% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 726 cooling degree days, 20% fewer 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 3,448 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 890 | 0 |
| February | 711 | 0 |
| March | 570 | 1 |
| April | 294 | 16 |
| May | 128 | 47 |
| June | 17 | 138 |
| July | 3 | 223 |
| August | 5 | 189 |
| September | 57 | 96 |
| October | 299 | 15 |
| November | 566 | 1 |
| December | 781 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,319 | 726 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00409065. 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.
How does Townsend's climate compare?
Townsend is warmer than 4 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 96. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.1°F is warmer than 61%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Townsend 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 Townsend 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.
- Walland, TN453 people · 9 mi N
- Fontana Dam, NC11 people · 12 mi S
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 Townsend's climate
What is the coldest month in Townsend?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Townsend?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 6 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (3.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Townsend?
July, with 6.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.30 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Townsend in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Townsend in zone 7b in ZIP code 37886, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Townsend's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Townsend?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tapoco, NC14 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Gatlinburg, TN15 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Robbinsville, NC16 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Knoxville, TN19 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made