Watertown, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Watertown's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 37.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 26°C, 942 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWatertown International Airport
- Station IDUSW00094790
- Location43.99°N 76.02°W
- Elevation318 ft (97 m)
- From the center6 miles
- Population24,038
On October 23, the normal high in Watertown is 56°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 46%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Watertown.
- Jan 30° 10°
- Feb 31° 11°
- Mar 40° 21°
- Apr 54° 33°
- May 66° 44°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 79° 59°
- Aug 78° 57°
- Sep 71° 49°
- Oct 58° 39°
- Nov 47° 30°
- Dec 36° 19°
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 Watertown each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.22 in), the least in February (2.18 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 | 30°F | 10°F | 19.9°F | 2.86 | 16 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 31°F | 11°F | 21.1°F | 2.18 | 14 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 21°F | 30.4°F | 2.37 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 33°F | 43.1°F | 3.07 | 13 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 66°F | 44°F | 55.0°F | 2.97 | 13 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 63.8°F | 3.09 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 79°F | 59°F | 69.0°F | 3.01 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 78°F | 57°F | 67.5°F | 3.20 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 71°F | 49°F | 60.0°F | 3.56 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 39°F | 48.8°F | 4.22 | 14 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 30°F | 38.0°F | 3.40 | 14 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 36°F | 19°F | 27.3°F | 3.14 | 16 | <1 | 26 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 37.07 | 158 | 2 | 151 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.7°C | 73 mm |
| February | 0°C | −12°C | −6.1°C | 55 mm |
| March | 4°C | −6°C | −0.9°C | 60 mm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.2°C | 78 mm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 12.8°C | 75 mm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 78 mm |
| July | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 76 mm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 19.7°C | 81 mm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 90 mm |
| October | 15°C | 4°C | 9.3°C | 107 mm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.3°C | 86 mm |
| December | 2°C | −7°C | −2.6°C | 80 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Watertown's own co-op station Watertown station does: 116 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094790; 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 Watertown?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USW00094790.
When is the last frost in Watertown?
In Watertown, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 11 in half of years and after May 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 16 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 111 year in 10 after May 26; 9 in 10 after April 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 16; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 140 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 163 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Watertown in zone 5a in ZIP code 13601, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Watertown's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −28°F (30 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 New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00094790; 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 Watertown?
In a normal year in Watertown, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 151 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 158 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 151a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 52high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 158a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1949) is 97°F, on July 18, 1953; the lowest is −43°F, on January 16, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 48.79 in; the snowiest season is 1985–86, with 160.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094790; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00094790. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Watertown, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 59°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 61°F; the driest air comes in January (13°F). December is the windiest month (9.3 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (67%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°F | 73% | 64% | 8.9 mph | – | – |
| February | 17°F | 71% | 60% | 9.1 mph | – | – |
| March | 28°F | 67% | 55% | 8.9 mph | – | – |
| April | 38°F | 64% | 48% | 8.3 mph | 51% | 33% |
| May | 51°F | 72% | 58% | 7.2 mph | 56% | 26% |
| June | 59°F | 72% | 58% | 6.9 mph | 64% | 17% |
| July | 61°F | 74% | 57% | 6.6 mph | 63% | 15% |
| August | 57°F | 75% | 57% | 6.4 mph | 67% | 18% |
| September | 48°F | 76% | 60% | 7.3 mph | 53% | 33% |
| October | 36°F | 72% | 61% | 8.5 mph | – | – |
| November | 27°F | 75% | 67% | 8.9 mph | – | – |
| December | 18°F | 75% | 69% | 9.3 mph | – | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00094790. 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 Watertown?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Watertown, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (47%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 51% | 1.3 |
| February | 54% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.3 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 76% | 4.2 |
| October | 63% | 2.5 |
| November | 58% | 1.6 |
| December | 47% | 1.0 |
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 Watertown need?
A normal year in Watertown brings 7,524 heating degree days, 40% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 386 cooling degree days, 57% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,207 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,398 | 0 |
| February | 1,231 | 0 |
| March | 1,074 | 0 |
| April | 658 | 1 |
| May | 326 | 14 |
| June | 101 | 64 |
| July | 22 | 146 |
| August | 40 | 116 |
| September | 190 | 40 |
| October | 506 | 4 |
| November | 809 | 0 |
| December | 1,170 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,524 | 386 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094790. 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 Watertown been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.9°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.3°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.6°F | +2.3°F | 36.82 |
| 2022 | 46.1°F | +0.8°F | 40.60 |
| 2023 | 47.9°F | +2.6°F | 38.78 |
| 2024 | 49.2°F | +3.9°F | – |
| 2025 | 45.9°F | +0.6°F | 40.39 |
Over 70 complete years from 1950 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.6°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094790; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Watertown's climate compare?
Watertown is warmer than 26 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 20. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.3°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Watertown is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Watertown share this climate record?
25 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.
- Fort Drum, NY16,124 people · 12 mi E
- Calcium, NY3,245 people · 9 mi E
- Clayton, NY1,689 people · 17 mi N
- Adams, NY1,671 people · 13 mi S
- Sackets Harbor, NY1,364 people · 6 mi SW
- Black River, NY1,236 people · 11 mi E
- Dexter, NY1,011 people · 2 mi NW
- Adams Center, NY1,002 people · 9 mi S
- Great Bend, NY942 people · 16 mi E
- Brownville, NY928 people · 2 mi NE
- Pamelia Center, NY781 people · 7 mi NE
- Cape Vincent, NY727 people · 18 mi NW
- La Fargeville, NY637 people · 14 mi N
- Evans Mills, NY613 people · 12 mi NE
- Chaumont, NY595 people · 8 mi NW
- Glen Park, NY445 people · 3 mi E
- Depauville, NY430 people · 10 mi N
- Felts Mills, NY265 people · 13 mi E
- Deferiet, NY256 people · 17 mi E
- Henderson, NY240 people · 13 mi SW
- Belleville, NY231 people · 15 mi S
- Thousand Island Park, NY216 people · 20 mi N
- Rodman, NY175 people · 11 mi S
- Fishers Landing, NY69 people · 20 mi N
- Three Mile Bay, NY40 people · 11 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 Watertown's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Watertown. This page uses Watertown International Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown station USC00309000 | 2 mi E | 497 ft | 46.4°F | 11°F | 80°F | 44.4 | 116 | May 2 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Watertown's climate
What is the coldest month in Watertown?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Watertown?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Watertown's NOAA station; Watertown's own co-op station Watertown station records 116 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Watertown?
October, with 4.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.18 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Watertown in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Watertown in zone 5a in ZIP code 13601, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Watertown's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −28°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Watertown?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 11; in one year in ten it comes after May 26. Waiting until May 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Watertown in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pulaski, NY30 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Lowville, NY30 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Highmarket (2 mi W), NY35 miles from this station, 40.9°F a year
- Gouverneur, NY35 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made