Wilson, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wilson's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 50.3 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,278 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWilson (3 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00319476
- Location35.69°N 77.95°W
- Elevation110 ft (34 m)
- Population48,579
On October 23, the normal high in Wilson is 71°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wilson.
- Jan 52° 33°
- Feb 55° 34°
- Mar 63° 40°
- Apr 73° 49°
- May 80° 58°
- Jun 87° 67°
- Jul 90° 71°
- Aug 88° 70°
- Sep 83° 64°
- Oct 73° 52°
- Nov 64° 41°
- Dec 56° 35°
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 Wilson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 33°F. The most precipitation falls in September (6.08 in), the least in February (3.04 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 | 52°F | 33°F | 42.4°F | 3.75 | 0.8 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 34°F | 44.8°F | 3.04 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 40°F | 51.6°F | 4.16 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 49°F | 60.8°F | 3.88 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 58°F | 69.0°F | 3.92 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 67°F | 76.8°F | 4.14 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 71°F | 80.6°F | 5.75 | 0.0 | 11 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 70°F | 79.0°F | 5.33 | 0.0 | 10 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 64°F | 73.4°F | 6.08 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 3.36 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.3°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 56°F | 35°F | 45.5°F | 3.60 | 0.6 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 51°F | 61.6°F | 50.30 | 1.9 | 120 | 51 | 60 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 0°C | 5.8°C | 95 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 77 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 17°C | 5°C | 10.9°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.0°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 22°C | 27.0°C | 146 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 18°C | 23.0°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.5°C | 91 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00319476; 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 Wilson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, 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 USC00319476.
When is the last frost in Wilson?
In Wilson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 22 in half of years and after April 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 12 in half of years and before November 1 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 8; 9 in 10 after March 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 121 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 236 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 265 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 7 in half of springs and before November 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wilson in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 27893, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wilson's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°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 USC00319476; 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 Wilson ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Wilson'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 Wilson?
In a normal year in Wilson, 51 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 60 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 120 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 51a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 60a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 120a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1916) is 107°F, on July 22, 1952; the lowest is −1°F, on January 4, 1918.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1989, with 73.46 in; the snowiest season is 1947–48, with 30.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00319476; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00319476. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wilson?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wilson, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 78% | 6.1 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.7 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 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 Wilson need?
A normal year in Wilson brings 3,062 heating degree days, 43% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,842 cooling degree days, 2.0 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 5,108 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 702 | 1 |
| February | 566 | 2 |
| March | 424 | 10 |
| April | 175 | 50 |
| May | 45 | 169 |
| June | 3 | 359 |
| July | 0 | 485 |
| August | 0 | 433 |
| September | 10 | 260 |
| October | 140 | 63 |
| November | 388 | 7 |
| December | 609 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 3,062 | 1,842 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00319476. 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 Wilson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 62.5°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.6°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.0°F | +0.4°F | 57.57 | – |
| 2022 | 62.4°F | +0.8°F | 42.98 | – |
| 2023 | 63.5°F | +1.9°F | 47.65 | – |
| 2024 | 63.9°F | +2.3°F | 53.17 | – |
| 2025 | 62.5°F | +0.9°F | 39.17 | – |
Over 95 complete years from 1905 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00319476; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wilson's climate compare?
Wilson is warmer than 94 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 60. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.6°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wilson 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 Wilson share this climate record?
10 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.
- Kenly, NC1,687 people · 12 mi SW
- Fremont, NC1,207 people · 11 mi S
- Lucama, NC1,060 people · 5 mi SW
- Middlesex, NC960 people · 16 mi NW
- Stantonsburg, NC765 people · 9 mi SE
- Black Creek, NC698 people · 4 mi S
- Bailey, NC588 people · 11 mi NW
- Saratoga, NC352 people · 10 mi E
- Sims, NC345 people · 8 mi NW
- Eureka, NC203 people · 11 mi S
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 Wilson's climate
What is the coldest month in Wilson?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in Wilson?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wilson?
September, with 6.08 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 3.04 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wilson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wilson in zone 8a across its 2 ZIP code areas (8a in 27893, the largest). By the same method at Wilson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Wilson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 22; in one year in ten it comes after April 8. Waiting until April 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wilson in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rocky Mount, NC12 miles from this station, 60.5°F a year
- Rocky Mount (8 mi ESE), NC21 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Snow Hill, NC23 miles from this station, 61.7°F a year
- Goldsboro, NC24 miles from this station, 63.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made