Vermont

Townshend, Vermont Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Walpole 2S Nepp, 19.2 km from Townshend

The warmest month is July, with an average high of 81°F; the coldest is January, with an average low of 13°F. A normal year brings 47.0 in of precipitation and 130.2 in of snow.

Temperature through the year

The normal daily high and low and the record for every date at Springfield/Hartnes (VSF), since 1996. The line marks today.

Normal daily high and low temperature at Townshend through the year, in °F, with the record for each date.-250255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Normal low
  • Normal high
  • Record high
  • Record low

Normals for Sep 26

Normal high
68°F
Normal low
45°F
Record high
88°Fin 2017
Record low
30°Fin 2016
Daylight
11 h 59 min

Month by month

Averages for 1991-2020. Wet days have at least 0.01 inch of precipitation. Freeze nights have a low of 32°F or colder; degree days are on a 65°F base. Each month links to its own page.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRecord highRecord lowPrecipitationWet daysSnowfallFreeze nightsHeating DDCooling DD
January31°F13°F66°F (2007)-22°F (2018)3.17 in33.2 in29.71,3420
February33°F14°F70°F (2018)-19°F (2003)2.98 in28.8 in26.81,1660
March42°F21°F86°F (1998)-14°F (2007)3.59 in24.6 in27.51,0270
April56°F33°F91°F (2002)10°F (2003)3.79 in6.1 in15.06171
May67°F44°F94°F (2010)25°F (2008)3.44 in0.2 in2.331212
June75°F53°F98°F (2025)31°F (2009)5.07 in0.0 in0.08766
July81°F58°F103°F (2002)42°F (2000)4.83 in0.0 in0.014151
August79°F56°F98°F (2001)41°F (1998)4.17 in0.0 in0.025113
September72°F49°F95°F (2002)25°F (2000)3.96 in0.0 in1.017840
October60°F38°F85°F (2023)19°F (2001)4.56 in2.2 in6.45112
November47°F28°F78°F (2022)0°F (2018)3.63 in8.4 in24.68250
December36°F19°F72°F (1998)-16°F (2017)3.82 in26.7 in29.21,1560
Year57°F36°F47.01 in130.2 in1637,259383

Precipitation

Rain and melted snow together. The chance of a wet day is the share of days with at least 0.01 inch of precipitation.

47.0 in in a normal year, most in June.

Chance of a wet day

The chance of at least 0.01 inch of precipitation on each date at Townshend, in percent, and of at least 0.1 inch of snowfall.01020304050JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Chance of a wet day
  • Chance of snowfall

Snow

NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normals for West Wardsboro, 14.9 km away; Walpole 2S Nepp keeps no snowfall normals.

130.2 in of snow in a normal year.

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for Walpole 2S Nepp. A median date has an even chance of a later freeze in spring, or an earlier one in fall.

The last spring freeze typically comes around May 8 and the first fall freeze around October 3, a growing season of about 149 days.

Median at 36°F
last May 21, first September 25
Median at 32°F
last May 8, first October 3
Median at 28°F
last April 25, first October 16

Frost dates, growing season and degree days

Plant hardiness zone

2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map GIS data (USDA-ARS and Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group), at the town’s center on the map’s 800 m grid. Zones are 10°F apart, half zones 5°F.

Townshend is in USDA zone 5b 5b: the coldest night of the winter averages -13°F, within zone 5b’s -15 to -10°F.

Zone
5b
Average coldest night
-13°F1991-2020
Range of the half zone
-15 to -10°F-26.1 to -23.3°C

Every town’s zone in Vermont Zone map

Growing degree days this year

Observed: NOAA GHCN-Daily highs and lows at Springfield/Hartnes (VSF) (USW00054740), through September 22, 2026; GHCN trails the calendar by a day or more. Normal: NOAA’s 1991-2020 daily normals at the same station, NCEI’s own for base 50°F and the corn method, and for bases 41°F and 32°F computed here from NCEI’s daily mean and its standard deviation (Thom’s method).

Since January 1, Townshend has gathered 2,338 growing degree days on a 50°F base, 272 more than normal by September 22, 2026: about 100 days ahead of the normal season.

Growing degree days since January 1 at Townshend, base 50°F, against normal.05001000150020002500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • 2026, observed
  • Normal
BaseSince Jan 1Normal to dateDepartureNormal year
Base 50°F2,3382,066+272 (+13%)2,192
Corn, 86/502,5622,318+243 (+10%)2,586
Base 41°F3,7883,475+313 (+9%)3,884
Base 32°F5,4875,120+366 (+7%)6,044

Base 50°F: The common base for warm-season crops, turf and most insect models; USA-NPN’s pest forecasts use it. Corn, 86/50: Modified growing degree days for corn: highs above 86°F count as 86 and lows below 50°F as 50 (Barger 1969; Purdue Extension). Base 41°F: 5°C, the base used for cool-season crops such as alfalfa and canola. Base 32°F: 0°C, the base USA-NPN uses for its accumulated temperature maps and for its hemlock woolly adelgid forecast. A day adds its mean temperature, (high + low) / 2, above the base; the corn method first holds the high and low between 50°F and 86°F. Corn typically needs 100 to 120 of those units from planting to emergence (Purdue Extension).

With the forecast added Degree day map

Humidity and comfort

NASA POWER reanalysis, 1991-2020, for the grid cell around Townshend.

The muggiest month is July, when 26 percent of days are muggy or worse, with a mean dew point of 65°F or more.

MonthDew pointHumidityDryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable
January17°F91%100%0%0%0%0%0%
February18°F91%100%0%0%0%0%0%
March25°F86%100%0%0%0%0%0%
April35°F79%98%2%0%0%0%0%
May47°F78%82%11%6%1%0%0%
June56°F80%43%27%19%11%1%0%
July61°F80%16%27%31%22%4%0%
August59°F79%25%28%28%16%2%0%
September52°F78%63%20%13%4%0%0%
October41°F80%94%5%1%0%0%0%
November31°F84%99%1%0%0%0%0%
December22°F89%100%0%0%0%0%0%

Comfort is judged by the day's mean dew point: dry below 55°F, comfortable to 60°F, humid to 65°F, muggy to 70°F, oppressive to 75°F, miserable above.

Clouds

Average share of the sky covered, from satellite (CERES and GEWEX SRB) by way of NASA POWER, 1991-2020.

The clearest month is September, with the sky 58 percent covered on average; the cloudiest is December, at 71 percent.

Wind

The mean wind speed over the whole day, from the MERRA-2 reanalysis by way of NASA POWER. Gusts run well above it.

The windiest month is February, averaging 6.9 mph at 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground.

Daylight and sunshine

The longest day is Jun 20, with 15 h 23 min of daylight; the shortest is Dec 17, with 9 h 00 min.

Hours of daylight at Townshend through the year.0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Day length

Solar energy

Average daily sunshine reaching the ground on a flat surface, in kilowatt-hours per square meter, clouds included.

Sunrise and sunset calendar

How Windham County is running

NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, from the nClimGrid analysis of every station, updated early each month. A rank of 1 is the highest or lowest of all years since 1895.

August 2026 in Windham County: 66.7°F (+1.0 °F against 1991-2020), the 20th warmest in 132 years on record.

August 2026 in Windham County: 2.57 in (-1.77 in against 1991-2020), the 24th driest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Windham County: 45.9°F (+0.2 °F against 1991-2020), the 24th warmest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Windham County: 29.05 in (-3.62 in against 1991-2020), the 45th driest in 132 years on record.

Warmest August
69.6°F in 2018
Coolest August
57.1°F in 1903
Wettest August
11.62 in in 2011
Driest August
1.32 in in 1996

Every year since 1895

Each year's average temperature in Windham County against the 1991-2020 average, in °F, 1895 to 2025.-7.5-5-2.50+2.5+5+7.51900192019401960198020002020NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance

Vermont climate and rankings

Month pages

The weather in Townshend in each month, day by day.

What this means

A normal is the average of the thirty years 1991 to 2020, the period the World Meteorological Organization and NOAA use for comparison. It is an average, not a forecast: most days depart from it, and some by a long way.

A record is the highest or lowest value on the date in every year the station has reported, back to 1996. It rests on one station, so a neighbor a few miles away can hold different ones.

Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine come from a reanalysis: a weather model run over the past with every observation fed in, averaged over a grid cell about 50 km across. It is consistent everywhere on Earth; it smooths local detail such as a lake shore or a valley.

More for this place

Nearby

Sources

Normals: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020, station USC00278856 (Walpole 2S Nepp), public domain. Records: NOAA GHCN-Daily, station USW00054740, every year on file, quality-flagged values removed. Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine: NASA POWER (MERRA-2, CERES and GEWEX SRB), 1991-2020. The data was obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project funded through the NASA Earth Science Division: POWER Daily API v2, accessed 2026-09-24. Sun and moon: computed with the NOAA solar equations and Meeus. Rankings: NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, public domain.