Massachusetts climate: Statewide normals, its places and each month, NOAA 1991-2020
Massachusetts's statewide normal is 48.8°F a year with 48.6 inches of precipitation (NOAA nClimDiv, 1991-2020); it has warmed 2.8°F per century since 1895, and 2012 was its warmest year.
- Statewide normal temperature
- 48.8°Fyear, 1991-2020
- Statewide normal precipitation
- 48.6 inyear, 1991-2020
- Last five years against normal
- +1.8°F2021-2025 mean 50.5°F
- Places with normals
- 6935 Census places, 34 other stations
What is Massachusetts's weather like each month?
Statewide, July is the warmest month and January the coldest. Each month has its own page with the warmest and coolest places that month:
- Jan35°17°
- Feb37°19°
- Mar45°26°
- Apr57°35°
- May68°46°
- Jun77°55°
- Jul82°61°
- Aug80°59°
- Sep73°52°
- Oct61°41°
- Nov50°32°
- Dec40°23°
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 17°F | 26.0°F | 3.67 |
| February | 37°F | 19°F | 28.0°F | 3.26 |
| March | 45°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 4.28 |
| April | 57°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 4.12 |
| May | 68°F | 46°F | 56.9°F | 3.70 |
| June | 77°F | 55°F | 65.7°F | 4.28 |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.3°F | 3.83 |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.7°F | 4.03 |
| September | 73°F | 52°F | 62.4°F | 4.25 |
| October | 61°F | 41°F | 51.0°F | 4.82 |
| November | 50°F | 32°F | 41.0°F | 3.92 |
| December | 40°F | 23°F | 31.5°F | 4.48 |
Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide series (Climate at a Glance); data files. Statewide values are area-weighted from a 5 km grid of station data, so they differ from the simple average of a state's stations.
Has Massachusetts been warmer than normal?
5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the 1991-2020 statewide normal of 48.8°F. The record since 1895 rises at a fitted 2.8°F per century; the warmest year was 2012 (51.3°F).
| Year | Mean | Against normal |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.8°F | +2.1°F |
| 2022 | 50.3°F | +1.5°F |
| 2023 | 51.3°F | +2.5°F |
| 2024 | 51.2°F | +2.4°F |
| 2025 | 49.1°F | +0.4°F |
Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide annual series.
Where is it warmest, wettest and snowiest in Massachusetts?
Among the places PlainClimate covers, Edgartown has the warmest year (52.3°F) and East Hawley the coolest (42.6°F); Worthington is the wettest (54.1 in) and Nantucket the driest (40.9 in), and Worthington gets the most snow (77 in).
| Place | Year | July high | January low | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 51.9°F | 82°F | 23°F | 43.6 | 49 | April 4 |
| Worcester | 48.1°F | 80°F | 17°F | 48.3 | 73 | April 23 |
| Lowell | 49.0°F | 85°F | 16°F | 48.5 | – | April 30 |
| Brockton | 51.4°F | 84°F | 21°F | 50.2 | 34 | April 22 |
| New Bedford | 50.4°F | 83°F | 21°F | 45.9 | – | April 29 |
| Lawrence | 50.1°F | 83°F | 19°F | 40.9 | – | April 21 |
| Haverhill | 48.4°F | 82°F | 16°F | 49.6 | 58 | May 1 |
| Taunton | 50.5°F | 84°F | 19°F | 47.6 | – | May 2 |
| Barnstable | 50.3°F | 78°F | 22°F | 45.7 | 22 | April 16 |
| Beverly | 49.8°F | 82°F | 20°F | 44.9 | – | April 24 |
| Pittsfield | 46.0°F | 79°F | 14°F | 44.2 | – | May 5 |
| Fitchburg | 48.9°F | 83°F | 16°F | 43.4 | – | April 29 |
| Amherst | 48.2°F | 83°F | 14°F | 46.6 | 37 | May 5 |
| Westfield | 49.4°F | 85°F | 16°F | 45.2 | – | May 3 |
| Norwood | 52.0°F | 86°F | 21°F | 43.9 | – | April 25 |
| Bridgewater | 49.2°F | 83°F | 17°F | 51.0 | – | May 1 |
| Reading | 50.6°F | 84°F | 19°F | 50.0 | 64 | April 25 |
| Marblehead | 48.7°F | 80°F | 18°F | 48.0 | 39 | April 25 |
| Southbridge | 48.2°F | 81°F | 17°F | 51.9 | 52 | April 25 |
| Greenfield | 48.0°F | 83°F | 15°F | 49.4 | – | May 1 |
| North Adams | 47.0°F | 81°F | 14°F | 42.3 | – | May 10 |
| Nantucket | 50.7°F | 75°F | 27°F | 40.9 | – | April 13 |
| Maynard | 49.8°F | 87°F | 15°F | 49.7 | – | May 2 |
| Plymouth | 50.0°F | 82°F | 20°F | 48.0 | – | April 30 |
| Walpole | 50.8°F | 83°F | 20°F | 49.6 | 56 | April 27 |
| Hingham | 51.3°F | 83°F | 22°F | 52.3 | 51 | April 25 |
| Orange | 48.3°F | 84°F | 14°F | 42.2 | – | May 4 |
| East Sandwich | 49.5°F | 77°F | 20°F | 53.0 | – | April 26 |
| Vineyard Haven | 50.2°F | 79°F | 23°F | 42.1 | – | May 7 |
| Belchertown | 47.7°F | 82°F | 15°F | 47.5 | 48 | May 3 |
| Lenox | 46.1°F | 82°F | 13°F | 49.1 | – | May 7 |
| Chatham | 50.9°F | 79°F | 26°F | 45.2 | – | April 13 |
| Woods Hole | 51.7°F | 79°F | 25°F | – | – | April 11 |
| Edgartown | 52.3°F | 80°F | 26°F | 47.7 | 25 | April 17 |
| Barre | 47.2°F | 83°F | 13°F | 47.7 | 60 | May 12 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
What are Massachusetts's all-time weather records?
The official state records, reviewed by NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee: from 107°F to −35°F.
| Record | Value | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest temperature | 107°F | Chester (tied 2 times; the latest shown) | August 2, 1975 |
| Lowest temperature | −35°F | Chester (tied 3 times; the latest shown) | January 12, 1981 |
| Most precipitation in 24 hours | 18.15 in | Westfield | August 18, 1955 |
| Most snow in 24 hours | 29 in | Natick | April 1, 1997 |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 62 in | Great Barrington Airport | January 13, 1996 |
Source: NOAA NCEI State Climate Extremes Committee records.
Which large cities in Massachusetts have no climate record of their own?
These 18 cities of 50,000 or more have no NOAA record with 1991-2020 normals under their own name; each page compares the nearest records, with their distance and elevation.
- Springfield154,888 people
- Cambridge121,186 people
- Lynn103,489 people
- Quincy103,434 people
- Fall River94,689 people
- Newton90,700 people
- Somerville82,149 people
- Framingham73,361 people
- Malden66,693 people
- Waltham65,849 people
- Brookline62,822 people
- Revere60,702 people
- Weymouth60,159 people
- Medford59,898 people
- Peabody55,418 people
- Chicopee55,381 people
- Methuen54,272 people
- Everett51,825 people
Which other NOAA stations in Massachusetts keep normals?
34 stations in Massachusetts that are not a town's own record keep 1991-2020 normals too: reservoirs and dams, parks and forests, research farms, remote sites and the second stations of towns (those are shown on the town's page). Each with its normal yearly mean:
- Ashburnham46.2°F
- Ashburnham N45.4°F
- Bedford49.6°F
- Bedford Hanscom Field50.5°F
- Beverly station48.3°F
- Birch Hill Dam46.3°F
- Blue Hill49.7°F
- Blue Hill Cooperative49.7°F
- Buffumville Lake48.0°F
- Chatham station50.3°F
- East Brimfield Lake48.3°F
- East Hawley42.6°F
- East Wareham50.7°F
- Fitchburg Cooperative47.5°F
- Groveland49.3°F
- Hyannis Barnstable Municipal Airport51.5°F
- Jamaica Plain51.2°F
- Lawrence station50.9°F
- Leverett #247.4°F
- Middleboro49.5°F
- Middleton48.3°F
- Natick48.9°F
- New Bedford Cooperative52.4°F
- Norton W49.5°F
- NWS Boston/Norton50.0°F
- Plymouth-Kingston52.6°F
- Rochester50.5°F
- Rowe (3 mi NE)43.6°F
- Taunton station51.1°F
- Tully Lake49.1°F
- West Harwich50.4°F
- West Medway50.1°F
- Westfield (3 mi SW)48.7°F
- Worthington45.3°F
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station.
Next
- Frost dates in MassachusettsLast spring and first autumn frost at every station
- Every stateCompare the statewide normals
- Edgartown52.3°F a year, 47.7 in of precipitation
- East Hawley42.6°F a year,
- Worthington45.3°F a year, 54.1 in of precipitation
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