Woonsocket, Rhode Island climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Woonsocket's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 51.9 inches of precipitation and 42 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.6°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,319 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWoonsocket
- Station IDUSC00379423
- Location41.98°N 71.49°W
- Elevation110 ft (34 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population44,508
On October 22, the normal high in Woonsocket is 62°F and the normal low 40°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 Woonsocket.
- Jan 38° 19°
- Feb 40° 21°
- Mar 47° 28°
- Apr 60° 38°
- May 70° 48°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 84° 63°
- Aug 83° 62°
- Sep 75° 54°
- Oct 64° 42°
- Nov 53° 33°
- Dec 43° 25°
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 Woonsocket each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.27 in), the least in July (3.62 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 | 38°F | 19°F | 28.3°F | 4.37 | 12.3 | 12 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 21°F | 30.5°F | 3.67 | 10.7 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 28°F | 37.8°F | 4.89 | 7.6 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 38°F | 48.9°F | 4.71 | 1.9 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 48°F | 58.9°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.9°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 3.62 | 0.0 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 62°F | 72.1°F | 4.01 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 54°F | 64.9°F | 4.17 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 42°F | 52.9°F | 5.08 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 33°F | 43.3°F | 4.22 | 1.0 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 43°F | 25°F | 33.8°F | 5.27 | 7.9 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 41°F | 51.1°F | 51.91 | 41.5 | 133 | 14 | 129 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −7°C | −2.1°C | 111 mm | 31 cm |
| February | 4°C | −6°C | −0.8°C | 93 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 8°C | −2°C | 3.2°C | 124 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 15°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 120 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 6°C | 11.6°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 12°C | 1°C | 6.3°C | 107 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 6°C | −4°C | 1.0°C | 134 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00379423; 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 Woonsocket?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USC00379423.
When is the last frost in Woonsocket?
In Woonsocket, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 22 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 5 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 221 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before November 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 179 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 205 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 7 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Woonsocket in zone 6b in ZIP code 02895. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Woonsocket's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (17 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Rhode Island · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00379423; 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 Woonsocket?
In a normal year in Woonsocket, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 129 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 129a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 23high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00379423.
How sunny is Woonsocket?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Woonsocket, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.9 |
| February | 71% | 2.7 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.5 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 71% | 2.1 |
| December | 67% | 1.6 |
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 Woonsocket need?
A normal year in Woonsocket brings 5,800 heating degree days, 8% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 760 cooling degree days, 16% 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 2,976 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,137 | 0 |
| February | 966 | 0 |
| March | 845 | 0 |
| April | 488 | 5 |
| May | 220 | 30 |
| June | 44 | 131 |
| July | 3 | 271 |
| August | 9 | 229 |
| September | 89 | 86 |
| October | 381 | 7 |
| November | 651 | 0 |
| December | 967 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,800 | 760 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00379423. 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.
How does Woonsocket's climate compare?
Woonsocket is warmer than 1 of the other 5 places with their own NOAA record in Rhode Island, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.1°F is warmer than 45%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Woonsocket is Dfa: continental, 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 Woonsocket share this climate record?
13 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.
- Attleboro, MA47,085 people · 11 mi E
- Franklin, MA33,742 people · 8 mi NE
- North Attleborough, MA31,210 people · 8 mi E
- Milford, MA30,640 people · 12 mi N
- Greenville, RI8,586 people · 8 mi SW
- Whitinsville, MA7,250 people · 13 mi NW
- Foxborough, MA18,791 people · 14 mi NE
- Bellingham, MA17,998 people · 8 mi N
- Westborough, MA22,643 people · 21 mi N
- Hopedale, MA6,063 people · 10 mi N
- Hopkinton, MA19,971 people · 17 mi N
- Upton, MA8,475 people · 15 mi NW
- North Seekonk, MA2,903 people · 11 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 Woonsocket's climate
What is the coldest month in Woonsocket?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Woonsocket?
Yes: 42 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (12.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Woonsocket?
December, with 5.27 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 3.62 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Woonsocket in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Woonsocket in zone 6b in ZIP code 02895. By the same method at Woonsocket's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Woonsocket?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 22; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Woonsocket in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Rhode Island climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- West Medway, MA11 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- North Foster (1 mi E), RI16 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Norton W, MA17 miles from this station, 49.5°F a year
- Walpole, MA17 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made