Tuscaloosa, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tuscaloosa's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 53.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.1°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,359 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTuscaloosa Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00093806
- Location33.21°N 87.62°W
- Elevation150 ft (46 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population114,288
On October 14, the normal high in Tuscaloosa is 78°F and the normal low 54°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tuscaloosa.
- Jan 56° 36°
- Feb 60° 39°
- Mar 68° 46°
- Apr 76° 52°
- May 83° 61°
- Jun 89° 69°
- Jul 92° 72°
- Aug 91° 72°
- Sep 87° 66°
- Oct 77° 53°
- Nov 66° 43°
- Dec 58° 38°
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 Tuscaloosa each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in February (5.37 in), the least in September (3.40 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 36°F | 45.7°F | 4.97 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 39°F | 49.6°F | 5.37 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 46°F | 56.9°F | 4.82 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 52°F | 63.8°F | 5.00 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 61°F | 72.2°F | 3.64 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 69°F | 79.1°F | 4.67 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 72°F | 81.9°F | 4.17 | 11 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 91°F | 72°F | 81.5°F | 4.36 | 11 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 66°F | 76.3°F | 3.40 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 53°F | 65.2°F | 3.54 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 4.52 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 38°F | 48.0°F | 5.06 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 54°F | 64.5°F | 53.52 | 118 | 85 | 48 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 2°C | 7.6°C | 126 mm |
| February | 16°C | 4°C | 9.8°C | 136 mm |
| March | 20°C | 8°C | 13.8°C | 122 mm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 127 mm |
| May | 28°C | 16°C | 22.3°C | 92 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 119 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 106 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.5°C | 111 mm |
| September | 31°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 86 mm |
| October | 25°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 90 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 115 mm |
| December | 14°C | 3°C | 8.9°C | 129 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Tuscaloosa's own co-op station Tuscaloosa Acfd does: 0 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093806; 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 Tuscaloosa?
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 (9).
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 USW00093806.
When is the last frost in Tuscaloosa?
In Tuscaloosa, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 16 in half of years and after April 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 12 in half of years and before October 30 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 161 year in 10 after April 3; 9 in 10 after February 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 121 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 242 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 270 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 1 in half of springs and before November 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tuscaloosa in zones 8a to 8b across its 5 ZIP code areas (8a in 35406, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tuscaloosa's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (20 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 Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093806; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Tuscaloosa ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Tuscaloosa's 5 ZIP code areas run from zone 8a to 8b: 1 in 8a and 4 in 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Tuscaloosa?
In a normal year in Tuscaloosa, 85 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 48 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 85a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 48a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 107°F, on July 29, 1952; the lowest is −1°F, on January 19, 1977.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 78.35 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 7.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093806; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093806. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Tuscaloosa, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 70°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 71°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (35°F). February is the windiest month (6.5 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (76%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 66% | 45% | 5.8 mph | 59% | 31% |
| February | 40°F | 64% | 43% | 6.5 mph | 56% | 30% |
| March | 48°F | 65% | 42% | 6.3 mph | 63% | 22% |
| April | 56°F | 69% | 46% | 5.5 mph | 67% | 17% |
| May | 65°F | 72% | 50% | 4.8 mph | 68% | 13% |
| June | 70°F | 74% | 52% | 4.2 mph | 72% | 8% |
| July | 71°F | 75% | 53% | 3.8 mph | 73% | 8% |
| August | 69°F | 73% | 50% | 4.3 mph | 72% | 10% |
| September | 60°F | 72% | 46% | 4.6 mph | 76% | 13% |
| October | 50°F | 73% | 46% | 4.5 mph | 68% | 19% |
| November | 41°F | 71% | 48% | 5.1 mph | 62% | 26% |
| December | 37°F | 71% | 51% | 5.8 mph | 55% | 33% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093806. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Tuscaloosa?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tuscaloosa, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (67%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 243rd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.6 |
| February | 67% | 3.2 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.3 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 68% | 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 Tuscaloosa need?
A normal year in Tuscaloosa brings 2,409 heating degree days, 55% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,264 cooling degree days, 2.5 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,885 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 600 | 2 |
| February | 438 | 5 |
| March | 274 | 23 |
| April | 108 | 70 |
| May | 17 | 238 |
| June | 0 | 423 |
| July | 0 | 525 |
| August | 0 | 510 |
| September | 4 | 343 |
| October | 100 | 105 |
| November | 339 | 15 |
| December | 530 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,409 | 2,264 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093806. 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 Tuscaloosa been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 65.4°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65.2°F | +0.7°F | 68.03 |
| 2022 | 65.1°F | +0.6°F | 60.37 |
| 2023 | 66.1°F | +1.6°F | 47.27 |
| 2024 | 66.0°F | +1.5°F | 49.41 |
| 2025 | 65.4°F | +0.9°F | 49.07 |
Over 62 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093806; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tuscaloosa's climate compare?
Tuscaloosa is warmer than 55 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.5°F is warmer than 87%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa share this climate record?
3 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.
- Moundville, AL3,614 people · 15 mi S
- Gordo, AL1,559 people · 18 mi NW
- Coker, AL889 people · 4 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.
What do Tuscaloosa's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Tuscaloosa. This page uses Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscaloosa Acfd USC00018380 | 5 mi W | 169 ft | 66.0°F | 36°F | 94°F | 57.8 | 0 | March 12 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Tuscaloosa's climate
What is the coldest month in Tuscaloosa?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Tuscaloosa?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Tuscaloosa's NOAA station; Tuscaloosa's own co-op station Tuscaloosa Acfd records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Tuscaloosa?
February, with 5.37 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tuscaloosa in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tuscaloosa in zones 8a to 8b across its 5 ZIP code areas (8a in 35406, the largest). By the same method at Tuscaloosa's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Tuscaloosa?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 16; in one year in ten it comes after April 3. Waiting until April 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tuscaloosa in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Northport, AL1 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Bankhead Lock and Dam, AL22 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Aliceville, AL32 miles from this station, 63.3°F a year
- Centreville, AL32 miles from this station, 61.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made