Waterville, Maine climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Waterville's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 43.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.3°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,101 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWaterville Trtmt Plant
- Station IDUSC00179151
- Location44.53°N 69.65°W
- Elevation73 ft (22 m)
- Population17,336
On October 14, the normal high in Waterville is 60°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 38%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Waterville.
- Jan 29° 9°
- Feb 32° 10°
- Mar 40° 21°
- Apr 54° 32°
- May 66° 43°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 80° 59°
- Aug 80° 57°
- Sep 72° 50°
- Oct 59° 38°
- Nov 46° 29°
- Dec 35° 17°
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 Waterville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.90 in), the least in February (2.61 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 9°F | 18.7°F | 3.12 | 11 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 32°F | 10°F | 20.9°F | 2.61 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 21°F | 30.4°F | 3.27 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 32°F | 42.9°F | 3.73 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 43°F | 54.5°F | 3.33 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 4.03 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 80°F | 59°F | 69.6°F | 3.37 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 57°F | 68.5°F | 3.39 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 72°F | 50°F | 60.6°F | 3.82 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 38°F | 48.5°F | 4.90 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 29°F | 37.4°F | 3.87 | 11 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 35°F | 17°F | 25.9°F | 3.92 | 12 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 35°F | 45.1°F | 43.36 | 135 | 6 | 164 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −13°C | −7.4°C | 79 mm |
| February | 0°C | −12°C | −6.2°C | 66 mm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.9°C | 83 mm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 95 mm |
| May | 19°C | 6°C | 12.5°C | 85 mm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 102 mm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 86 mm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 86 mm |
| September | 22°C | 10°C | 15.9°C | 97 mm |
| October | 15°C | 4°C | 9.2°C | 124 mm |
| November | 8°C | −2°C | 3.0°C | 98 mm |
| December | 1°C | −8°C | −3.4°C | 100 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, New Sharon (19 miles away), gets 86 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00179151; 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 Waterville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. 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 USC00179151.
When is the last frost in Waterville?
In Waterville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 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
- May 21 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 27
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 22 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waterville in zone 5b in ZIP code 04901. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Waterville's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 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 Maine · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00179151; 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 Waterville?
In a normal year in Waterville, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 164 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 135 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 164a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 53high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 135a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 101°F, on July 4, 1911; the lowest is −39°F, on December 30, 1933.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2005, with 61.97 in; the snowiest season is 1962–63, with 111.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00179151; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00179151. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Waterville?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Waterville, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (77%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.7 |
| February | 69% | 2.5 |
| March | 70% | 3.7 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 67% | 5.3 |
| June | 68% | 5.6 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 77% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.6 |
| November | 66% | 1.7 |
| December | 62% | 1.3 |
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 Waterville need?
A normal year in Waterville brings 7,596 heating degree days, 41% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 394 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 2,201 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,437 | 0 |
| February | 1,236 | 0 |
| March | 1,073 | 0 |
| April | 665 | 0 |
| May | 334 | 9 |
| June | 94 | 61 |
| July | 15 | 158 |
| August | 23 | 130 |
| September | 167 | 35 |
| October | 511 | 1 |
| November | 828 | 0 |
| December | 1,214 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,596 | 394 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00179151. 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 Waterville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.3°F | +2.2°F | 41.88 |
| 2022 | 46.9°F | +1.8°F | 44.11 |
| 2023 | 48.4°F | +3.3°F | 52.32 |
| 2024 | 48.8°F | +3.7°F | 44.94 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +1.0°F | 40.14 |
Over 60 complete years from 1959 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.8°F per century (+0.32°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00179151; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Waterville's climate compare?
Waterville is warmer than 28 of the other 41 places with their own NOAA record in Maine, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.1°F is warmer than 20%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Waterville 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 Waterville share this climate record?
5 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.
- Winslow, ME8,072 people · 3 mi NE
- Oakland, ME6,351 people · 3 mi NW
- Fairfield, ME6,530 people · 5 mi NE
- Clinton, ME3,387 people · 11 mi NE
- Unity, ME2,342 people · 17 mi E
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 Waterville's climate
What is the coldest month in Waterville?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Waterville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Waterville's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, New Sharon (19 miles away), records 86 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Waterville?
October, with 4.90 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Waterville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Waterville in zone 5b in ZIP code 04901. By the same method at Waterville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Waterville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Maine climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Augusta, ME16 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- New Sharon, ME19 miles from this station, 43.4°F a year
- Madison, ME22 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Gardiner, ME22 miles from this station, 45.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made