Wise, Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wise's normal year runs from 25°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 51.6 inches of precipitation and 47 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.9°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,311 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWise (1 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00449215
- Location36.97°N 82.56°W
- Elevation2,564 ft (782 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population2,869
On October 22, the normal high in Wise is 64°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wise.
- Jan 43° 25°
- Feb 47° 27°
- Mar 55° 34°
- Apr 66° 43°
- May 72° 51°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 81° 61°
- Aug 80° 60°
- Sep 76° 54°
- Oct 66° 44°
- Nov 55° 34°
- Dec 46° 29°
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 Wise each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.77 in), the least in October (2.87 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 25°F | 33.6°F | 4.34 | 12.8 | 15 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 27°F | 36.9°F | 4.37 | 11.6 | 15 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 55°F | 34°F | 44.4°F | 4.74 | 8.6 | 15 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 43°F | 54.1°F | 4.78 | 1.7 | 13 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 51°F | 61.4°F | 4.60 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 67.8°F | 4.86 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 61°F | 70.9°F | 5.77 | 0.0 | 16 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 60°F | 69.8°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 76°F | 54°F | 64.8°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 44°F | 55.0°F | 2.87 | 0.9 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 3.26 | 1.9 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 29°F | 37.2°F | 4.36 | 9.6 | 15 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 43°F | 53.4°F | 51.63 | 47.1 | 162 | 1 | 96 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −4°C | 0.9°C | 110 mm | 33 cm |
| February | 8°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 111 mm | 29 cm |
| March | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 120 mm | 22 cm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 121 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 147 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.0°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 12.8°C | 73 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 83 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 8°C | −2°C | 2.9°C | 111 mm | 24 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00449215; 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 Wise?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00449215.
When is the last frost in Wise?
In Wise, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 25 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 6 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
- April 251 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 6; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 198 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wise in zone 7a in ZIP code 24293, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wise's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (28 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00449215; 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 Wise?
In a normal year in Wise, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 96 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 162 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 96a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 162a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1955) is 99°F, on July 7, 2025; the lowest is −24°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 67.81 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 124.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00449215; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00449215. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wise?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wise, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (78%) and February the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.2 |
| February | 62% | 2.8 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 75% | 5.9 |
| August | 78% | 5.5 |
| September | 77% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.6 |
| November | 74% | 2.7 |
| December | 65% | 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 Wise need?
A normal year in Wise brings 4,797 heating degree days, 11% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 587 cooling degree days, 35% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,149 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 973 | 0 |
| February | 787 | 0 |
| March | 639 | 1 |
| April | 336 | 9 |
| May | 150 | 37 |
| June | 29 | 115 |
| July | 6 | 188 |
| August | 9 | 157 |
| September | 77 | 70 |
| October | 321 | 9 |
| November | 611 | 0 |
| December | 860 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,797 | 587 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00449215. 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 Wise been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 53.9°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.4°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.4°F | +1.0°F | 46.91 | 23.6 |
| 2022 | 53.9°F | +0.5°F | 57.77 | 24.1 |
Over 55 complete years from 1956 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00449215; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wise's climate compare?
Wise is warmer than 14 of the other 80 places with their own NOAA record in Virginia, and wetter than 69. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.4°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wise is Cfb: temperate, no dry season, warm 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 Wise share this climate record?
6 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.
- Norton, VA3,478 people · 5 mi SW
- Coeburn, VA1,556 people · 5 mi E
- Riverview, VA652 people · 5 mi SE
- The University of Virginia's College at Wise, VA538 people · 0 mi E
- Dungannon, VA251 people · 11 mi SE
- Tacoma, VA141 people · 3 mi SE
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 Wise's climate
What is the coldest month in Wise?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Wise?
Yes: 47 inches in a normal year, falling on 29 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (12.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wise?
July, with 5.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wise in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wise in zone 7a in ZIP code 24293, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wise's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Wise?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 25; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clintwood, VA12 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Nora (4 mi SSE), VA14 miles from this station, 53.4°F a year
- Big Stone Gap, VA16 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Whitesburg, KY16 miles from this station, 53.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made