Waco, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Waco's normal year runs from 36°F January nights to 97°F July afternoons, with 36.4 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.7 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 19.5°C, January lows of 2°C, July highs of 36°C, 925 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWaco Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00013959
- Location31.62°N 97.23°W
- Elevation500 ft (152 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population146,608
On October 14, the normal high in Waco is 82°F and the normal low 57°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Waco.
- Jan 59° 36°
- Feb 63° 40°
- Mar 70° 47°
- Apr 78° 55°
- May 85° 63°
- Jun 93° 71°
- Jul 97° 74°
- Aug 97° 74°
- Sep 91° 67°
- Oct 81° 56°
- Nov 69° 46°
- Dec 60° 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 Waco each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 97°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.44 in), the least in July (1.82 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 | 59°F | 36°F | 47.4°F | 2.59 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 63°F | 40°F | 51.6°F | 2.68 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 11 h |
| March | 70°F | 47°F | 58.8°F | 3.31 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 55°F | 66.2°F | 3.30 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 85°F | 63°F | 74.3°F | 4.44 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 93°F | 71°F | 81.9°F | 3.35 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 97°F | 74°F | 85.6°F | 1.82 | 5 | 29 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 97°F | 74°F | 85.5°F | 2.05 | 5 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 91°F | 67°F | 78.7°F | 2.87 | 6 | 19 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 56°F | 68.4°F | 4.41 | 7 | 5 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 69°F | 46°F | 57.2°F | 2.71 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 60°F | 38°F | 49.2°F | 2.87 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 56°F | 67.1°F | 36.40 | 80 | 115 | 34 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 66 mm |
| February | 17°C | 5°C | 10.9°C | 68 mm |
| March | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 84 mm |
| April | 26°C | 13°C | 19.0°C | 84 mm |
| May | 30°C | 17°C | 23.5°C | 113 mm |
| June | 34°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 85 mm |
| July | 36°C | 24°C | 29.8°C | 46 mm |
| August | 36°C | 23°C | 29.7°C | 52 mm |
| September | 33°C | 19°C | 25.9°C | 73 mm |
| October | 27°C | 13°C | 20.2°C | 112 mm |
| November | 20°C | 8°C | 14.0°C | 69 mm |
| December | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 73 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013959; 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 Waco?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. 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 USW00013959.
When is the last frost in Waco?
In Waco, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 15 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 15 in half of years and before November 1 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 151 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after February 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 151 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 245 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 272 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 2 in half of springs and before November 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waco in zone 8b across its 8 ZIP code areas (8b in 76708, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Waco's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013959; 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 Waco ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Waco's 8 ZIP code areas are all in zone 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 Waco?
In a normal year in Waco, 115 days a year reach 90°F (24 of them 100°F or more), 34 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 115a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 24a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 34a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
The highest temperature in Waco's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1901) is 114°F, on July 23, 2018; the lowest is −5°F, on January 31, 1949.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1905, with 60.20 in; the snowiest season is 2020–21, with 9.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013959; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record ACTthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Waco, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 68°F. The muggiest month is June, with an average dew point of 70°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in December (36°F). March is the windiest month (11.3 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (86%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 67% | 46% | 9.6 mph | 59% | 34% |
| February | 42°F | 66% | 46% | 10.6 mph | 59% | 32% |
| March | 51°F | 67% | 49% | 11.3 mph | 57% | 31% |
| April | 58°F | 68% | 48% | 10.7 mph | 61% | 25% |
| May | 67°F | 69% | 50% | 9.6 mph | 71% | 11% |
| June | 70°F | 65% | 44% | 10.0 mph | 75% | 8% |
| July | 68°F | 58% | 36% | 9.1 mph | 86% | 4% |
| August | 67°F | 61% | 39% | 7.9 mph | 80% | 7% |
| September | 59°F | 63% | 39% | 8.2 mph | 76% | 12% |
| October | 50°F | 67% | 45% | 9.2 mph | 66% | 23% |
| November | 42°F | 67% | 46% | 9.7 mph | 65% | 27% |
| December | 36°F | 68% | 48% | 9.2 mph | 61% | 33% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013959. 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 Waco?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Waco, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (70%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 125th (with 50 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 3.0 |
| February | 70% | 3.5 |
| March | 73% | 4.5 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 85% | 6.8 |
| July | 88% | 6.8 |
| August | 88% | 6.3 |
| September | 83% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 4.2 |
| November | 77% | 3.2 |
| December | 74% | 2.7 |
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 Waco need?
A normal year in Waco brings 2,080 heating degree days, 61% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,868 cooling degree days, 3.2 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,714 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 547 | 3 |
| February | 385 | 10 |
| March | 230 | 38 |
| April | 76 | 114 |
| May | 9 | 297 |
| June | 0 | 507 |
| July | 0 | 637 |
| August | 0 | 635 |
| September | 3 | 416 |
| October | 64 | 171 |
| November | 268 | 34 |
| December | 498 | 7 |
| Year (annual) | 2,080 | 2,868 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013959. 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 Waco been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 68.5°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 67.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67.6°F | +0.5°F | 32.67 |
| 2022 | 68.4°F | +1.3°F | 20.76 |
| 2023 | 68.5°F | +1.4°F | 29.34 |
| 2024 | 69.5°F | +2.4°F | 37.50 |
| 2025 | 68.5°F | +1.4°F | 36.35 |
Over 81 complete years from 1941 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013959; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Waco's climate compare?
Waco is warmer than 206 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 199. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 67.1°F is warmer than 92%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Waco 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 Waco share this climate record?
12 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.
- Hewitt, TX16,749 people · 12 mi S
- Robinson, TX12,986 people · 13 mi SE
- Bellmead, TX10,607 people · 8 mi E
- Woodway, TX9,686 people · 8 mi S
- Lacy-Lakeview, TX7,262 people · 7 mi E
- Willow Grove, TX2,333 people · 6 mi SW
- Beverly Hills, TX1,847 people · 8 mi SE
- China Spring, TX1,420 people · 5 mi NW
- Valley Mills, TX1,302 people · 15 mi W
- Gholson, TX1,231 people · 6 mi N
- Leroy, TX358 people · 14 mi NE
- Ross, TX199 people · 10 mi NE
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 Waco's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Waco. This page uses Waco Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waco Dam USC00419417 | 3 mi NW | 495 ft | 66.6°F | 36°F | 95°F | 37.5 | 0 | March 9 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Waco's climate
What is the coldest month in Waco?
January, with a normal high of 59°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (97°F by day, 74°F at night).
Does it snow in Waco?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.7 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Waco?
May, with 4.44 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 1.82 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Waco in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Waco in zone 8b across its 8 ZIP code areas (8b in 76708, the largest). By the same method at Waco's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Waco?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 15; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Waco in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- McGregor, TX16 miles from this station, 65.4°F a year
- Whitney, TX19 miles from this station, 65.4°F a year
- Hillsboro, TX29 miles from this station, 66.1°F a year
- Marlin, TX30 miles from this station, 65.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made