Wardensville, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wardensville's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 37.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.9°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 950 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWardensville R M Farm
- Station IDUSC00469281
- Location39.11°N 78.58°W
- Elevation960 ft (293 m)
- Population260
On October 14, the normal high in Wardensville is 68°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wardensville.
- Jan 42° 20°
- Feb 45° 21°
- Mar 53° 27°
- Apr 65° 36°
- May 73° 46°
- Jun 81° 55°
- Jul 86° 59°
- Aug 84° 58°
- Sep 78° 50°
- Oct 67° 39°
- Nov 56° 30°
- Dec 45° 23°
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 Wardensville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.89 in), the least in February (2.04 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 20°F | 30.7°F | 2.28 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 21°F | 32.9°F | 2.04 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 27°F | 40.1°F | 2.90 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 36°F | 50.3°F | 3.13 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 46°F | 59.6°F | 3.89 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 55°F | 68.2°F | 3.77 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 86°F | 59°F | 72.4°F | 3.72 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 84°F | 58°F | 70.9°F | 3.64 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 50°F | 64.2°F | 3.76 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 39°F | 52.8°F | 2.86 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 56°F | 30°F | 42.6°F | 2.72 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 45°F | 23°F | 34.0°F | 2.71 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 39°F | 51.6°F | 37.42 | 123 | 21 | 141 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −7°C | −0.7°C | 58 mm |
| February | 7°C | −6°C | 0.5°C | 52 mm |
| March | 12°C | −3°C | 4.5°C | 74 mm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 10.2°C | 80 mm |
| May | 23°C | 8°C | 15.3°C | 99 mm |
| June | 27°C | 13°C | 20.1°C | 96 mm |
| July | 30°C | 15°C | 22.4°C | 94 mm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.6°C | 92 mm |
| September | 26°C | 10°C | 17.9°C | 96 mm |
| October | 20°C | 4°C | 11.6°C | 73 mm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 69 mm |
| December | 7°C | −5°C | 1.1°C | 69 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Star Tannery (7 miles away), gets 25 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00469281; 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 Wardensville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. 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 USC00469281.
When is the last frost in Wardensville?
In Wardensville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 6 in half of years and after May 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 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
- May 61 year in 10 after May 22; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 159 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 183 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wardensville in zone 6b in ZIP code 26851, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wardensville's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00469281; 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 Wardensville?
In a normal year in Wardensville, 21 days a year reach 90°F, 141 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 141a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 17high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1917) is 105°F, on July 17, 1988; the lowest is −20°F, on February 28, 1934.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 55.81 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 66.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00469281; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00469281. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wardensville?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wardensville, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (77%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 1.9 |
| February | 66% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.7 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.3 |
| June | 75% | 6.0 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 74% | 4.2 |
| October | 70% | 3.1 |
| November | 69% | 2.2 |
| December | 62% | 1.6 |
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 Wardensville need?
A normal year in Wardensville brings 5,548 heating degree days, 3% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 685 cooling degree days, 25% 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 2,964 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,063 | 0 |
| February | 899 | 0 |
| March | 772 | 0 |
| April | 444 | 4 |
| May | 202 | 36 |
| June | 41 | 135 |
| July | 5 | 236 |
| August | 9 | 194 |
| September | 98 | 74 |
| October | 382 | 6 |
| November | 672 | 0 |
| December | 961 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,548 | 685 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00469281. 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 Wardensville's climate compare?
Wardensville is warmer than 14 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 1. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.6°F is warmer than 48%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wardensville is Dfa: continental, 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 Wardensville share this climate record?
9 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.
- Strasburg, VA7,290 people · 14 mi SE
- Shawneeland, VA2,653 people · 14 mi NE
- Middletown, VA1,444 people · 17 mi E
- Alonzaville, VA276 people · 12 mi S
- Locust Grove, VA169 people · 13 mi SE
- Lebanon Church, VA72 people · 12 mi E
- Mount Olive, VA34 people · 11 mi SE
- Clary, VA0 people · 14 mi E
- Fishers Hill, VA0 people · 12 mi SE
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 Wardensville's climate
What is the coldest month in Wardensville?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Wardensville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Wardensville's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Star Tannery (7 miles away), records 25 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Wardensville?
May, with 3.89 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.04 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wardensville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wardensville in zone 6b in ZIP code 26851, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wardensville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Wardensville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 6; in one year in ten it comes after May 22. Waiting until May 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Star Tannery, VA7 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Woodstock, VA16 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Lost River, WV16 miles from this station, 50.7°F a year
- Romney, WV19 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made