West Memphis, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
West Memphis's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 50.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.0°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,280 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWest Memphis Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053959
- Location35.13°N 90.23°W
- Elevation214 ft (65 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population23,538
On October 14, the normal high in West Memphis is 76°F and the normal low 53°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for West Memphis.
- Jan 50° 33°
- Feb 54° 36°
- Mar 63° 43°
- Apr 73° 52°
- May 82° 62°
- Jun 89° 69°
- Jul 91° 72°
- Aug 91° 71°
- Sep 86° 64°
- Oct 75° 52°
- Nov 62° 42°
- Dec 53° 36°
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 West Memphis each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in March (5.10 in), the least in August (2.37 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50°F | 33°F | 41.2°F | 3.82 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| February | 54°F | 36°F | 45.1°F | 4.31 | 12 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 43°F | 53.3°F | 5.10 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 52°F | 62.8°F | 5.03 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 62°F | 71.7°F | 5.03 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 69°F | 79.2°F | 4.10 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 72°F | 81.8°F | 4.12 | 10 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 71°F | 81.2°F | 2.37 | 8 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 64°F | 75.1°F | 3.05 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 52°F | 63.7°F | 4.09 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 42°F | 52.1°F | 4.50 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 53°F | 36°F | 44.2°F | 4.88 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 53°F | 62.6°F | 50.40 | 123 | 66 | 58 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | 0°C | 5.1°C | 97 mm |
| February | 12°C | 2°C | 7.3°C | 109 mm |
| March | 17°C | 6°C | 11.8°C | 130 mm |
| April | 23°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 128 mm |
| May | 28°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 128 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.2°C | 104 mm |
| July | 33°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 105 mm |
| August | 33°C | 22°C | 27.3°C | 60 mm |
| September | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 77 mm |
| October | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 104 mm |
| November | 17°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 114 mm |
| December | 11°C | 2°C | 6.8°C | 124 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. West Memphis's own co-op station West Memphis station does: 2 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053959; 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 West Memphis?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, October 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 USW00053959.
When is the last frost in West Memphis?
In West Memphis, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 16 in half of years and after April 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 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
- March 161 year in 10 after April 3; 9 in 10 after February 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 242 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 267 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 2 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts West Memphis in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 72301, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, West Memphis's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053959; 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.
What hardiness zone is each West Memphis ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. West Memphis's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in West Memphis?
In a normal year in West Memphis, 66 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 58 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 58a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053959.
How sunny is West Memphis?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around West Memphis, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.4 |
| February | 66% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.1 |
| April | 75% | 5.3 |
| May | 77% | 5.9 |
| June | 84% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.4 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.0 |
| October | 78% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 68% | 2.1 |
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 West Memphis need?
A normal year in West Memphis brings 3,004 heating degree days, 44% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,173 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,557 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 738 | 0 |
| February | 559 | 2 |
| March | 374 | 13 |
| April | 135 | 69 |
| May | 22 | 232 |
| June | 0 | 427 |
| July | 0 | 521 |
| August | 0 | 502 |
| September | 8 | 309 |
| October | 128 | 88 |
| November | 396 | 9 |
| December | 644 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,004 | 2,173 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053959. 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 West Memphis been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 63.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.6°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 62.2°F | −0.4°F | 51.95 |
| 2023 | 63.0°F | +0.4°F | 46.99 |
| 2024 | 63.0°F | +0.4°F | 46.08 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053959. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does West Memphis's climate compare?
West Memphis is warmer than 64 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.6°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, West Memphis 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 West Memphis share this climate record?
12 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.
- Marion, AR13,524 people · 5 mi N
- Millington, TN11,486 people · 23 mi NE
- Earle, AR1,741 people · 16 mi NW
- Turrell, AR492 people · 17 mi N
- Crawfordsville, AR444 people · 8 mi NW
- Clarkedale, AR332 people · 11 mi N
- Edmondson, AR240 people · 5 mi SW
- Gilmore, AR171 people · 20 mi N
- Sunset, AR165 people · 6 mi N
- Anthonyville, AR131 people · 9 mi SW
- Jennette, AR118 people · 11 mi W
- Jericho, AR98 people · 11 mi N
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 West Memphis's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near West Memphis. This page uses West Memphis Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Memphis station USC00037712 | 2 mi SE | 215 ft | 61.8°F | 31°F | 91°F | 55.9 | 2 | March 19 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about West Memphis's climate
What is the coldest month in West Memphis?
January, with a normal high of 50°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in West Memphis?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for West Memphis's NOAA station; West Memphis's own co-op station West Memphis station records 2 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in West Memphis?
March, with 5.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 2.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is West Memphis in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts West Memphis in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 72301, the largest). By the same method at West Memphis's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in West Memphis?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 16; in one year in ten it comes after April 3. Waiting until April 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Memphis, TN15 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Olive Branch, MS26 miles from this station, 61.8°F a year
- Hernando, MS26 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Germantown, TN28 miles from this station, 62.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made