Winthrop University, South Carolina climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Winthrop University's normal year runs from 33°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 42.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.7°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,083 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWinthrop University
- Station IDUSC00389350
- Location34.94°N 81.03°W
- Elevation650 ft (198 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Winthrop University is 72°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Winthrop University.
- Jan 54° 33°
- Feb 58° 35°
- Mar 66° 42°
- Apr 75° 50°
- May 81° 59°
- Jun 88° 67°
- Jul 91° 70°
- Aug 89° 69°
- Sep 84° 63°
- Oct 74° 51°
- 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 at Winthrop University 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 June (4.11 in), the least in October (2.94 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 33°F | 43.0°F | 3.58 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| February | 58°F | 35°F | 46.4°F | 3.12 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 66°F | 42°F | 53.5°F | 3.90 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 50°F | 62.3°F | 3.73 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 59°F | 69.9°F | 3.53 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 67°F | 77.0°F | 4.11 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 91°F | 70°F | 80.2°F | 3.57 | 9 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 89°F | 69°F | 78.9°F | 3.72 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 63°F | 73.3°F | 3.56 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 51°F | 62.6°F | 2.94 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.3°F | 3.28 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 56°F | 35°F | 45.4°F | 3.58 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 51°F | 62.1°F | 42.62 | 104 | 56 | 51 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 91 mm |
| February | 14°C | 2°C | 8.0°C | 79 mm |
| March | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 99 mm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 95 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 90 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 25.0°C | 104 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.8°C | 91 mm |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 94 mm |
| September | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 90 mm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 17.0°C | 75 mm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 83 mm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 91 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Charlotte (20 miles away), gets 4 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00389350; 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.
Which months are mildest at Winthrop University?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00389350.
When is the last frost at Winthrop University?
In Winthrop University, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 27 in half of years and after April 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 5 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 271 year in 10 after April 11; 9 in 10 after March 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 51 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 225 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 249 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 15 in half of springs and before November 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Winthrop University in zone 8a in ZIP code 29733, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00389350; 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 at Winthrop University?
In a normal year in Winthrop University, 56 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 51 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 56a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 51a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1899) is 108°F, on July 12, 1930; the lowest is −4°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1959, with 69.49 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 26.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00389350; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00389350. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Winthrop University?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Winthrop University, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.7 |
| February | 71% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.4 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 79% | 6.1 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 79% | 3.9 |
| November | 79% | 3.0 |
| December | 73% | 2.4 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Winthrop University record?
A normal year at Winthrop University brings 2,872 heating degree days, 47% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,839 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 5,205 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 681 | 0 |
| February | 522 | 1 |
| March | 366 | 11 |
| April | 134 | 55 |
| May | 29 | 181 |
| June | 2 | 363 |
| July | 0 | 471 |
| August | 0 | 432 |
| September | 9 | 257 |
| October | 134 | 59 |
| November | 386 | 7 |
| December | 609 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 2,872 | 1,839 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00389350. 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.
Have recent years at Winthrop University been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 62.1°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 62.1°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.4°F | +0.3°F | 36.70 |
| 2025 | 62.1°F | at normal | 45.49 |
Over 89 complete years from 1902 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00389350; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Winthrop University's climate compare?
Winthrop University is warmer than 25 of the 73 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.1°F is warmer than 80%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Winthrop University 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 Winthrop University share this climate record?
5 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.
- Waxhaw, NC23,178 people · 17 mi E
- Marvin, NC6,985 people · 13 mi E
- Lesslie, SC3,202 people · 6 mi SE
- Catawba, SC1,225 people · 10 mi SE
- JAARS, NC769 people · 17 mi E
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 Winthrop University's climate
What is the coldest month at Winthrop University?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 33°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow at Winthrop University?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Charlotte (20 miles away), records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Winthrop University?
June, with 4.11 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.94 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Winthrop University in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Winthrop University in zone 8a in ZIP code 29733, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Winthrop University?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 27; in one year in ten it comes after April 11. Waiting until April 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rock Hill, SC4 miles from this station, 61.0°F a year
- York, SC9 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Gastonia, NC19 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Chester, SC20 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made