Waynesville, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Waynesville's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 50.2 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.8°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,276 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWaynesville (1 mi E)
- Station IDUSC00319147
- Location35.49°N 82.97°W
- Elevation2,658 ft (810 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population10,709
On October 23, the normal high in Waynesville is 65°F and the normal low 38°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 Waynesville.
- Jan 47° 24°
- Feb 50° 26°
- Mar 57° 32°
- Apr 66° 40°
- May 73° 48°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 82° 60°
- Aug 81° 59°
- Sep 76° 53°
- Oct 67° 41°
- Nov 58° 31°
- Dec 50° 26°
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 Waynesville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in December (4.71 in), the least in October (3.00 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 24°F | 35.0°F | 4.62 | 2.6 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| February | 50°F | 26°F | 38.2°F | 4.31 | 1.6 | 11 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 32°F | 44.2°F | 4.45 | 3.0 | 13 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 40°F | 52.6°F | 4.54 | 0.4 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 13 h |
| May | 73°F | 48°F | 60.5°F | 4.18 | 0.3 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.5°F | 4.18 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 60°F | 70.8°F | 4.12 | 0.0 | 15 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 59°F | 69.8°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 76°F | 53°F | 64.3°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 41°F | 53.9°F | 3.00 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 31°F | 44.1°F | 3.62 | 0.5 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 50°F | 26°F | 37.9°F | 4.71 | 2.5 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 41°F | 53.2°F | 50.23 | 10.9 | 140 | 3 | 120 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −5°C | 1.7°C | 117 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 10°C | −3°C | 3.4°C | 109 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 14°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 113 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 19°C | 4°C | 11.4°C | 115 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 106 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.7°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.0°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 92 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 10°C | −3°C | 3.3°C | 120 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00319147; 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 Waynesville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00319147.
When is the last frost in Waynesville?
In Waynesville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before October 4 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 301 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 167 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 191 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waynesville in zone 7a in ZIP code 28786. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Waynesville's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00319147; 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 Waynesville?
In a normal year in Waynesville, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 120 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 140 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a 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
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 140a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 98°F, on June 10, 1936; the lowest is −22°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 69.37 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 47.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00319147; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00319147. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Waynesville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Waynesville, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. November is the sunniest month (77%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.6 |
| February | 70% | 3.3 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 74% | 5.4 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 71% | 2.3 |
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 Waynesville need?
A normal year in Waynesville brings 4,793 heating degree days, 11% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 531 cooling degree days, 42% 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 2,990 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 928 | 0 |
| February | 750 | 0 |
| March | 643 | 0 |
| April | 375 | 3 |
| May | 164 | 24 |
| June | 29 | 104 |
| July | 4 | 185 |
| August | 6 | 155 |
| September | 77 | 54 |
| October | 349 | 5 |
| November | 629 | 0 |
| December | 839 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,793 | 531 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00319147. 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 Waynesville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.1°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.2°F | +1.0°F | 49.36 | 8.3 |
| 2022 | 53.7°F | +0.5°F | 49.71 | 14.5 |
| 2023 | 54.5°F | +1.3°F | 45.35 | 1.3 |
| 2024 | 55.1°F | +1.9°F | 51.08 | 1.0 |
| 2025 | 54.1°F | +0.9°F | 40.59 | 2.6 |
Over 97 complete years from 1895 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00319147; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Waynesville's climate compare?
Waynesville is warmer than 9 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 59. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.2°F is warmer than 54%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Waynesville is Cfb: temperate, 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 Waynesville share this climate record?
4 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.
- Lake Junaluska, NC2,903 people · 3 mi N
- Maggie Valley, NC1,742 people · 6 mi NW
- Clyde, NC1,377 people · 5 mi NE
- West Canton, NC1,369 people · 7 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.
Questions about Waynesville's climate
What is the coldest month in Waynesville?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Waynesville?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Waynesville?
December, with 4.71 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.00 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Waynesville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Waynesville in zone 7a in ZIP code 28786. By the same method at Waynesville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Waynesville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Waynesville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cataloochee, NC12 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Candler (1 mi W), NC16 miles from this station, 55.1°F a year
- Cullowhee, NC17 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Enka, NC18 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made