Waynesboro, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Waynesboro's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 45.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.3°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,151 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWaynesboro Water Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00448941
- Location38.08°N 78.88°W
- Elevation1,270 ft (387 m)
- Population23,498
On October 14, the normal high in Waynesboro is 68°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Waynesboro.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 48° 25°
- Mar 55° 31°
- Apr 66° 40°
- May 74° 50°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 86° 63°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 78° 55°
- Oct 68° 43°
- Nov 56° 33°
- Dec 47° 27°
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 Waynesboro each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in September (5.46 in), the least in February (2.80 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 | 44°F | 23°F | 33.8°F | 3.16 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 25°F | 36.2°F | 2.80 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 55°F | 31°F | 43.4°F | 4.11 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 40°F | 53.0°F | 3.94 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 50°F | 62.1°F | 3.59 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.4°F | 4.47 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 86°F | 63°F | 74.5°F | 3.68 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 73.0°F | 3.69 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 55°F | 66.0°F | 5.46 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 43°F | 55.1°F | 3.41 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 33°F | 44.5°F | 4.03 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 47°F | 27°F | 37.0°F | 2.99 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 42°F | 54.1°F | 45.33 | 112 | 18 | 120 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −5°C | 1.0°C | 80 mm |
| February | 9°C | −4°C | 2.3°C | 71 mm |
| March | 13°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 104 mm |
| April | 19°C | 4°C | 11.7°C | 100 mm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 91 mm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 114 mm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 93 mm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 94 mm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 18.9°C | 139 mm |
| October | 20°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 87 mm |
| November | 14°C | 0°C | 6.9°C | 102 mm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 76 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Staunton (13 miles away), gets 22 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00448941; 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 Waynesboro?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00448941.
When is the last frost in Waynesboro?
In Waynesboro, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 21 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 10 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
- April 211 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 10; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 184 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 207 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waynesboro in zone 7a in ZIP code 22980.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00448941; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Waynesboro?
In a normal year in Waynesboro, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 120 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 120a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 11high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00448941.
How sunny is Waynesboro?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Waynesboro, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (78%) and January the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.2 |
| February | 70% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.4 |
| November | 75% | 2.5 |
| December | 70% | 1.9 |
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 Waynesboro need?
A normal year in Waynesboro brings 4,851 heating degree days, 10% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 904 cooling degree days, 0% 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 3,419 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 967 | 0 |
| February | 805 | 0 |
| March | 672 | 0 |
| April | 367 | 9 |
| May | 147 | 57 |
| June | 17 | 178 |
| July | 2 | 296 |
| August | 5 | 253 |
| September | 67 | 97 |
| October | 319 | 13 |
| November | 614 | 0 |
| December | 870 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,851 | 904 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00448941. 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 Waynesboro been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 55.6°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.1°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 53.7°F | −0.4°F | 44.70 |
| 2023 | 55.6°F | +1.5°F | 33.73 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00448941. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Waynesboro's climate compare?
Waynesboro is warmer than 22 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 33. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.1°F is warmer than 57%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Waynesboro 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 Waynesboro share this climate record?
11 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.
- Stuarts Draft, VA11,920 people · 10 mi SW
- Fishersville, VA9,546 people · 6 mi W
- Grottoes, VA3,036 people · 13 mi N
- Crimora, VA1,823 people · 6 mi N
- Nellysford, VA1,623 people · 11 mi S
- Lyndhurst, VA1,401 people · 6 mi SW
- Dooms, VA1,360 people · 2 mi NE
- Harriston, VA1,252 people · 9 mi N
- New Hope, VA917 people · 8 mi N
- Sherando, VA246 people · 7 mi SW
- Afton, VA243 people · 5 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 Waynesboro's climate
What is the coldest month in Waynesboro?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Waynesboro?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Waynesboro's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Staunton (13 miles away), records 22 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Waynesboro?
September, with 5.46 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.80 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Waynesboro in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Waynesboro in zone 7a in ZIP code 22980.
How late can frost come in Waynesboro?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 21; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Waynesboro in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Staunton, VA13 miles from this station, 54.1°F a year
- Free Union, VA16 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Montebello Fish Cultural Station, VA21 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Charlottesville, VA23 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made