Whatley, Alabama climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Whatley's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 91°F August afternoons, with 61.4 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.4 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.1°C, January lows of 1°C, August highs of 33°C, 1,559 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWhatley
- Station IDUSC00018867
- Location31.65°N 87.71°W
- Elevation170 ft (52 m)
- Population (census place)285
On October 23, the normal high in Whatley is 76°F and the normal low 50°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Whatley.
- Jan 59° 33°
- Feb 63° 38°
- Mar 71° 44°
- Apr 77° 51°
- May 84° 60°
- Jun 89° 68°
- Jul 91° 70°
- Aug 91° 70°
- Sep 87° 65°
- Oct 78° 53°
- Nov 68° 43°
- Dec 61° 37°
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 Whatley each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.50 in), the least in September (3.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 33°F | 46.3°F | 5.52 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 63°F | 38°F | 50.2°F | 5.19 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 44°F | 57.2°F | 5.84 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 77°F | 51°F | 64.2°F | 4.31 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 4.10 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 89°F | 68°F | 78.1°F | 5.76 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 91°F | 70°F | 80.4°F | 6.24 | 11 | 23 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 91°F | 70°F | 80.5°F | 5.48 | 9 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 87°F | 65°F | 76.0°F | 3.88 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 53°F | 65.4°F | 4.10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 68°F | 43°F | 55.5°F | 4.46 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 61°F | 37°F | 48.9°F | 6.50 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 53°F | 64.5°F | 61.38 | 96 | 75 | 46 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 1°C | 7.9°C | 140 mm |
| February | 17°C | 3°C | 10.1°C | 132 mm |
| March | 21°C | 7°C | 14.0°C | 148 mm |
| April | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 109 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 104 mm |
| June | 32°C | 20°C | 25.6°C | 146 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.9°C | 158 mm |
| August | 33°C | 21°C | 26.9°C | 139 mm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 99 mm |
| October | 26°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 104 mm |
| November | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 113 mm |
| December | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 165 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00018867; 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 Whatley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00018867.
When is the last frost in Whatley?
In Whatley, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 22 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 in half of years and before October 24 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 221 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after March 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 231 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 256 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 8 in half of springs and before November 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Whatley in zone 8b in ZIP code 36482, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alabama · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00018867; 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 Whatley?
In a normal year in Whatley, 75 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 46 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 75a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 46a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1956) is 104°F, on June 14, 1963; the lowest is −2°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1957, with 73.51 in; the snowiest season is 1976–77, with 6.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00018867; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00018867. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Whatley?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Whatley, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. October is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.9 |
| February | 70% | 3.5 |
| March | 75% | 4.6 |
| April | 79% | 5.7 |
| May | 81% | 6.3 |
| June | 80% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 5.1 |
| October | 82% | 4.3 |
| November | 79% | 3.3 |
| December | 71% | 2.5 |
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 Whatley need?
A normal year in Whatley brings 2,289 heating degree days, 57% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,147 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,841 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 582 | 1 |
| February | 417 | 3 |
| March | 265 | 23 |
| April | 104 | 80 |
| May | 14 | 225 |
| June | 0 | 393 |
| July | 0 | 476 |
| August | 0 | 482 |
| September | 3 | 334 |
| October | 93 | 106 |
| November | 306 | 21 |
| December | 505 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,289 | 2,147 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00018867. 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.
How does Whatley's climate compare?
Whatley is warmer than 55 of the other 79 places with their own NOAA record in Alabama, and wetter than 63. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.5°F is warmer than 87%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Whatley 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 Whatley share this climate record?
Grove Hill has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Grove Hill, AL1,723 people · 5 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.
Questions about Whatley's climate
What is the coldest month in Whatley?
January, with a normal high of 59°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is August (91°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Whatley?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.4 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Whatley?
December, with 6.50 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Whatley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Whatley in zone 8b in ZIP code 36482, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Whatley?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 22; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alabama climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Jackson, AL16 miles from this station, 65.2°F a year
- Thomasville, AL16 miles from this station, 64.0°F a year
- Chatom, AL34 miles from this station, 64.4°F a year
- Camden, AL35 miles from this station, 64.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made