West Virginia climate

West Virginia Plant Hardiness Zones

West Virginia’s towns run from zone 6a to zone 7a: the average coldest winter night is 4.6°F at Carpendale and -8.7°F at Davis.

Hardiness zones in West Virginia

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across West Virginia, from zone 5b to zone 7a, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 5b
  • 6a
  • 6b
  • 7a

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

7a Zone 7a, 0 to 5°F 125 towns

6b Zone 6b, -5 to 0°F 110 towns

6a Zone 6a, -10 to -5°F 13 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Barbour County6b-3.8°F
Berkeley County7a3.2°F
Boone County7a3.4°F
Braxton County6b-3.7°F
Brooke County6b-0.7°F
Cabell County7a1.3°F
Calhoun County6b-2.6°F
Clay County6b-0.2°F
Doddridge County6b-2.5°F
Fayette County6b-0.5°F
Gilmer County6b-2.8°F
Grant County6b-2.5°F
Greenbrier County6b-2.6°F
Hampshire County7a2.1°F
Hancock County6b-0.4°F
Hardy County6b-4°F
Harrison County6b-2°F
Jackson County6b-1.3°F
Jefferson County7a3.1°F
Kanawha County7a2.4°F
Lewis County6b-2.8°F
Lincoln County6b-0.3°F
Logan County7a4.1°F
Marion County6b-2.1°F
Marshall County6b-3.8°F
Mason County6b-1.1°F
McDowell County7a1.1°F
Mercer County7a0.3°F
Mineral County7a0.7°F
Mingo County7a3.7°F
Monongalia County6b-1.3°F
Monroe County6b-1.2°F
Morgan County7a1.7°F
Nicholas County6b-4.7°F
Ohio County6b-1°F
Pendleton County6b-1.8°F
Pleasants County7a0.1°F
Pocahontas County6a-6.6°F
Preston County6b-1.8°F
Putnam County7a2.1°F
Raleigh County6b-4.1°F
Randolph County6a-7.9°F
Ritchie County6b-3°F
Roane County6b-1.4°F
Summers County7a0°F
Taylor County6b-1.7°F
Tucker County6a-5.5°F
Tyler County6b-4.1°F
Upshur County6b-4.3°F
Wayne County7a1.7°F
Webster County6b-4.6°F
Wetzel County6b-3.1°F
Wirt County6b-2.9°F
Wood County6b-1°F
Wyoming County7a1.2°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
6a-10 to -5°F-23.3 to -20.6°C
6b-5 to 0°F-20.6 to -17.8°C
7a0 to 5°F-17.8 to -15.0°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.