Williamsburg, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Williamsburg's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 51.2 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,301 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWilliamsburg (2 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00449151
- Location37.30°N 76.70°W
- Elevation70 ft (21 m)
- Population16,030
On October 22, the normal high in Williamsburg is 69°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Williamsburg.
- Jan 49° 31°
- Feb 52° 32°
- Mar 60° 39°
- Apr 70° 48°
- May 77° 57°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 89° 70°
- Aug 87° 69°
- Sep 81° 63°
- Oct 71° 51°
- Nov 61° 41°
- Dec 53° 34°
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 Williamsburg each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.92 in), the least in February (3.05 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 | 49°F | 31°F | 39.8°F | 3.77 | 1.7 | 11 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 32°F | 42.2°F | 3.05 | 1.6 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 39°F | 49.1°F | 4.25 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 48°F | 58.9°F | 3.98 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 57°F | 67.1°F | 3.89 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.9°F | 4.16 | 0.0 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 70°F | 79.3°F | 5.92 | 0.0 | 12 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 69°F | 77.6°F | 5.68 | 0.0 | 11 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 63°F | 71.8°F | 5.40 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 51°F | 61.1°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 41°F | 51.0°F | 3.13 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 53°F | 34°F | 43.4°F | 3.80 | 0.7 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 50°F | 59.7°F | 51.24 | 4.3 | 125 | 37 | 68 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −1°C | 4.3°C | 96 mm | 4 cm |
| February | 11°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 77 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 15°C | 4°C | 9.5°C | 108 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 14°C | 19.5°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 19°C | 23.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 150 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 20°C | 25.3°C | 144 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 11°C | 16.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 5°C | 10.6°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 1°C | 6.3°C | 97 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00449151; 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 Williamsburg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00449151.
When is the last frost in Williamsburg?
In Williamsburg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 10 in half of years and before October 29 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 311 year in 10 after April 14; 9 in 10 after March 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 101 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before November 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 225 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 252 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 20 in half of springs and before November 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Williamsburg in zone 8a in ZIP code 23185. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Williamsburg's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00449151; 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 Williamsburg?
In a normal year in Williamsburg, 37 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 68 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 125 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 37a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 68a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 125a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1951) is 104°F, on June 26, 1952; the lowest is −7°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 75.65 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 35.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00449151; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00449151. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Williamsburg?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Williamsburg, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.3 |
| February | 72% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.3 |
| May | 77% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.5 |
| October | 76% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.6 |
| December | 72% | 2.0 |
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 Williamsburg need?
A normal year in Williamsburg brings 3,491 heating degree days, 35% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,585 cooling degree days, 75% more than 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 4,664 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 780 | 0 |
| February | 640 | 1 |
| March | 498 | 7 |
| April | 226 | 42 |
| May | 65 | 130 |
| June | 6 | 301 |
| July | 0 | 445 |
| August | 0 | 391 |
| September | 14 | 218 |
| October | 165 | 46 |
| November | 425 | 5 |
| December | 672 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,491 | 1,585 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00449151. 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 Williamsburg been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.4°F, 0.3°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 59.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.4°F | +0.7°F | 52.11 | 2.6 |
| 2022 | 60.0°F | +0.3°F | 50.06 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 61.0°F | +1.3°F | 48.05 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 61.1°F | +1.4°F | 53.44 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 59.4°F | −0.3°F | 53.89 | 16.5 |
Over 99 complete years from 1902 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00449151; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Williamsburg's climate compare?
Williamsburg is warmer than 74 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 67. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.7°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg share this climate record?
2 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.
- Surry, VA209 people · 13 mi SW
- Scotland, VA91 people · 10 mi SW
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 Williamsburg's climate
What is the coldest month in Williamsburg?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Williamsburg?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (1.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Williamsburg?
July, with 5.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.05 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Williamsburg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Williamsburg in zone 8a in ZIP code 23185. By the same method at Williamsburg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Williamsburg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 14. Waiting until April 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Williamsburg in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Newport News, VA17 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- N, VA17 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- West Point (2 mi NW), VA19 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Hampton, VA25 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made