Wilmington, NC Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Wilmington's primary NOAA station, WILMINGTON INTL AP - 3 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Wilmington
Water is the standout signal in Wilmington, North Carolina: 60.1 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 64°F. It scores 77/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 70% of them.
- 64°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 77/100
- comfort score, above 70% of station-mapped location scores
- 60.1"
- annual precipitation · 1" snow
- 246 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Wilmington: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00013748 · Wilmington, NC 64°F mean · 60.1" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 64°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,900
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Alabaster Shelb…
- PRCP-WET 60.1"
- SWING-MID 35°F
- COMF-TOP 77/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-MULTI USW00013748
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Alabaster Shelby County, AL (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every NC station list.
- Wilmington (this station) 64°F
- Hot Belzoni, MS 64°F
- Near Alabaster Shelb…, AL 64°F
- Near Ashland, LA 64°F
- Near Bamberg, SC 64°F
Climate Living Index · Wilmington
Wilmington: 78/100 · grade B
Wilmington publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Wilmington, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 77/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 20 calendar days | 98/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 64.4°F · 3.1° from 67.5°F | 91/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 246 days/year | 87/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.9 inches/year | 84/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 60.1 in · 25.1 from 35 in | 12/100 · F |
Wilmington · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Wilmington is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 46.8°F and warmest-month mean 81.5°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 81.5°F
- Coldest month
- 46.8°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Wilmington sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Wilmington's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 14% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Wilmington sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 5% wettest
- Wilmington's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 83%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Wilmington is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Wilmington compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Wilmington's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
77 Top 30% score exceeds 70% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Wilmington's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 70 complete annual observations from 1953 to 2025, WILMINGTON INTL AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.20°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Wilmington primary station fitted change +0.20 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F (14°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.8" | 0.7" | 12.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 3.5" | 0.2" | 8.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 67°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 75°F (24°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.1" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| May | 81°F (27°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| June | 87°F (31°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 5.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.7 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 6.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 16.6 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 8.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.7 |
| September | 84°F (29°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 8.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| October | 76°F (24°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 4.7" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| November | 67°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 2.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 60°F (16°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 9.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Wilmington runs from a mild 36°F around January 15 to 90°F at the peak near July 9, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 5 through July 24, covering 20 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 30 to November 6.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 36°F around January 15.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 3, when 46% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 25 at 26%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 122 wet dates a year.
The widest day
November 9 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 23°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Wilmington.
Where Wilmington Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 60 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 23°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Wilmington earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 0.7"
9.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
9.5 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
13.2 days with precipitation
13.9 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
Wilmington spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 18%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Wilmington has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 34.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: September averages 8.7" and April 3.1". The three wettest months together take 39% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Wilmington, it arrives in quantity
60.1" of precipitation falls across only about 122 wet days here, averaging 0.49 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 122 a year, 33% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.49 inches
- Most wet days
- August, about 14
- Fewest wet days
- April, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Snow reaches Wilmington, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 0.9 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 1 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 20
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 19
50% probability date
Growing Season
246 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,326
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,133
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NC closest to Wilmington on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (64°F here).
- Ashland, LA 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Bamberg, SC 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Belzoni, MS 64°F · 0.0°F off
- Benton, LA 64°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (60.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hackberry, LA 60.1" · 0.0" off
- Natchez, MS 60.1" · 0.0" off
- Rockford, AL 60.2" · 0.0" off
- Jackson, AL 60.2" · 0.1" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Wilmington's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Wilmington averages 60.1 inches of precipitation a year. Annual snowfall totals 0.9 inches. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Wilmington's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 34.7°F. The annual average is 64°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Wilmington's normal, at 2,326 and 2,133 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
The frost-free window extends for about 246 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Wilmington's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Wilmington, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Wilmington's climate
How much rain does Wilmington get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Wilmington get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Wilmington? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Wilmington's primary station: WILMINGTON INTL AP (USW00013748). 3 NOAA stations are mapped to the Wilmington area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3774440). Match rule for Wilmington: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Wilmington comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.