Virginia

Newport News, Virginia Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Norfolk Nas, 13.5 km from Newport News

The warmest month is July, with an average high of 89°F; the coldest is January, with an average low of 34°F. A normal year brings 45.7 in of precipitation and 3.0 in of snow.

Temperature through the year

The normal daily high and low and the record for every date at Langley Afb/Hampton (LFI), since 1918. The line marks today.

Normal daily high and low temperature at Newport News 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
78°F
Normal low
64°F
Record high
93°Fin 1930
Record low
45°Fin 1967
Chance of a wet day
27%
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
January50°F34°F79°F (2002)-3°F (1985)2.93 in9.72.3 in12.77131
February53°F35°F82°F (1930)4°F (1936)2.55 in8.90.7 in8.75861
March59°F41°F90°F (1945)11°F (1937)3.47 in10.40.0 in3.04628
April70°F50°F95°F (1960)22°F (1923)3.28 in9.80.0 in0.020552
May77°F60°F97°F (1925)33°F (1920)3.55 in11.40.0 in0.053153
June84°F68°F104°F (2026)43°F (1967)4.64 in9.60.0 in0.05341
July89°F73°F106°F (2026)54°F (2002)5.21 in10.50.0 in0.00485
August86°F72°F105°F (1980)50°F (1965)5.30 in9.20.0 in0.00431
September81°F67°F99°F (1983)44°F (1967)5.14 in8.60.0 in0.05268
October72°F56°F95°F (1941)26°F (1962)3.58 in7.80.0 in0.011773
November61°F45°F85°F (1950)20°F (1930)3.14 in8.60.0 in1.43678
December54°F38°F79°F (1991)6°F (1935)2.89 in9.50.0 in6.65942
Year70°F53°F45.68 in1143.0 in333,1061,823

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.

45.7 in in a normal year, most in August.

Chance of a wet day

The chance of at least 0.01 inch of precipitation on each date at Newport News, in percent, and of at least 0.1 inch of snowfall.010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Chance of a wet day
  • Chance of snowfall

Snow

NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normals for Norfolk Nas.

3.0 in of snow in a normal year.

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for Norfolk Nas. 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 March 16 and the first fall freeze around November 26, a growing season of about 255 days.

Median at 36°F
last March 29, first November 14
Median at 32°F
last March 16, first November 26
Median at 28°F
last March 2, first December 12

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.

Newport News is in USDA zone 8b 8b: the coldest night of the winter averages 16.6°F, within zone 8b’s 15 to 20°F.

Zone
8b
Average coldest night
16.6°F1991-2020
Range of the half zone
15 to 20°F-9.4 to -6.7°C

Every town’s zone in Virginia Zone map

Growing degree days this year

Observed: NOAA GHCN-Daily highs and lows at Langley Afb/Hampton (LFI) (USW00013702), through September 19, 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, Newport News has gathered 4,698 growing degree days on a 50°F base, 785 more than normal by September 19, 2026: about 103 days ahead of the normal season.

Growing degree days since January 1 at Newport News, base 50°F, against normal.010002000300040005000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • 2026, observed
  • Normal
BaseSince Jan 1Normal to dateDepartureNormal year
Base 50°F4,6983,913+785 (+20%)4,647
Corn, 86/504,6443,985+658 (+17%)4,847
Base 41°F6,6255,788+837 (+14%)7,212
Base 32°F8,7697,962+807 (+10%)10,246

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). The station missed 6 days this year; they are counted at normal.

With the forecast added Degree day map

Humidity and comfort

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

The muggiest month is July, when 86 percent of days are muggy or worse, with a mean dew point of 65°F or more.

MonthDew pointHumidityDryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable
January34°F82%97%2%0%0%0%0%
February35°F81%98%2%0%0%0%0%
March41°F80%92%6%1%0%0%0%
April49°F78%70%19%10%1%0%0%
May58°F78%34%22%24%18%2%0%
June66°F76%4%13%21%35%28%0%
July70°F74%0%4%10%25%56%5%
August69°F76%0%4%14%31%45%6%
September65°F77%10%14%23%27%25%1%
October55°F77%48%20%19%10%3%0%
November45°F79%79%14%6%1%0%0%
December38°F81%94%4%2%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 October, with the sky 50 percent covered on average; the cloudiest is February, at 62 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 January, averaging 12.1 mph at 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground.

Daylight and sunshine

The longest day is Jun 20, with 14 h 43 min of daylight; the shortest is Dec 18, with 9 h 37 min.

Hours of daylight at Newport News 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 City of Newport News 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 City of Newport News: 81.3°F (+3.1 °F against 1991-2020), the 2nd warmest in 132 years on record.

August 2026 in City of Newport News: 3.75 in (-1.42 in against 1991-2020), the 49th driest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in City of Newport News: 63.0°F (+1.4 °F against 1991-2020), the 9th warmest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in City of Newport News: 25.12 in (-7.59 in against 1991-2020), the 12th driest in 132 years on record.

Warmest August
82.6°F in 1900
Coolest August
72.9°F in 1927
Wettest August
12.56 in in 1906
Driest August
1.28 in in 1995

Every year since 1895

Each year's average temperature in City of Newport News against the 1991-2020 average, in °F, 1895 to 2025.-6-4-20+2+4+61900192019401960198020002020NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance

Virginia climate and rankings

Month pages

The weather in Newport News 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 1918. 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 USW00013750 (Norfolk Nas), public domain. Records: NOAA GHCN-Daily, station USW00013702, 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.