Buffalo, NY climate: monthly averages and frost dates
Buffalo, NY has cold winters and warm summers by this site's scale, with wet annual precipitation. The figures are the 1991–2020 climate normals for NOAA station USW00014733 (BUFFALO), 7 mi (12 km) in a straight line from the city's center point (US Census).
- Warmest month high
- 80.2°F
- July
- Coldest month mean
- 25.5°F
- January
- Precipitation
- 40.7 in
- per year
- Snowfall
- 95.4 in
- per year
- Median last frost
- April 24
- 32°F, spring
- Median first frost
- October 26
- 32°F, autumn
Monthly averages in Buffalo
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Mean °F | Precip. in | Snow in | Days ≥0.01 in | Days ≥90°F | Nights ≤32°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32.1 | 19.0 | 25.5 | 3.35 | 26.7 | 19.2 | 0.0 | 27.1 |
| February | 33.3 | 19.5 | 26.4 | 2.49 | 18.1 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 25.3 |
| March | 41.8 | 26.4 | 34.1 | 2.89 | 14.1 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 22.7 |
| April | 54.7 | 36.5 | 45.6 | 3.37 | 2.5 | 13.4 | 0.0 | 9.3 |
| May | 67.4 | 48.3 | 57.9 | 3.37 | 0.0 | 12.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| June | 75.6 | 58.1 | 66.9 | 3.37 | 0.0 | 11.9 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| July | 80.2 | 63.1 | 71.7 | 3.23 | 0.0 | 10.8 | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| August | 79.0 | 61.7 | 70.4 | 3.23 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| September | 72.3 | 54.5 | 63.4 | 4.10 | 0.0 | 10.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 59.6 | 43.9 | 51.7 | 4.03 | 0.9 | 14.1 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| November | 47.8 | 34.2 | 41.0 | 3.50 | 7.8 | 14.4 | 0.0 | 13.1 |
| December | 37.2 | 25.6 | 31.4 | 3.75 | 25.3 | 17.7 | 0.0 | 24.0 |
| Year | 56.8 | 40.9 | 48.8 | 40.68 | 95.4 | 165.8 | 3.4 | 123.7 |
How cold is winter in Buffalo?
Winters in Buffalo are cold by this site's scale (coldest-month mean 20 to under 32°F). The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 25.5°F (−3.6°C), a normal daily high of 32.1°F (0.1°C) and a normal daily low of 19.0°F (−7.2°C).
The station averages 123.7 nights a year at or below 32°F and 48.6 days when the high stays at or below 32°F.
The normal daily low is at or below freezing in December to March.
How hot is summer in Buffalo?
Summers in Buffalo are warm by this site's scale (hottest-month high 80 to under 90°F). July has the highest normal daily high, 80.2°F (26.8°C), with nights averaging 63.1°F (17.3°C).
The high reaches 90°F or more on 3.4 days in a normal year.
What is the wettest month in Buffalo?
Buffalo gets 40.68 in (1033 mm) of precipitation in a normal year, which this site classes as wet (40 to under 60 in a year). The wettest month is September with 4.10 in (104 mm); the driest is February with 2.49 in (63 mm).
Measurable precipitation (0.01 in or more) falls on 165.8 days a year.
Does it snow in Buffalo?
Normal annual snowfall in Buffalo is 95.4 in (242 cm), which this site classes as very heavy (72 in or more a year).
January is the snowiest month, with 26.7 in (68 cm).
A day with 1.0 in or more of snowfall comes 25.6 times a year on average.
Which months are mild in Buffalo?
5 months in Buffalo meet this site's comfort thresholds (normal high 65–85°F, low 45°F or higher, fewer than 10 days with 0.10 in or more of precipitation): May to September.
Thresholds and their limits: methodology.
Frost dates and growing season in Buffalo
In Buffalo the median last spring night at or below 32°F is April 24, and the median first autumn one is October 26 (NOAA P50 dates). NOAA's median length of the freeze-free season is 183 days. NOAA takes that median over each year's own season, so it need not equal the 185 days between the two median dates.
There is still a 10% chance of a 32°F night on or after May 9, and a 10% chance that the first one has come by October 10.
The chance that the last spring 32°F night comes on or after April 11 is 90%.
For a hard freeze (28°F or lower) the median dates are April 13 in spring and November 6 in autumn.
| Chance | Last spring 32°F night on or after | First autumn 32°F night by | Freeze-free season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | May 9 | October 10 | 202 |
| 20% | May 3 | October 16 | 196 |
| 30% | April 30 | October 19 | 191 |
| 40% | April 28 | October 23 | 187 |
| 50% | April 24 | October 26 | 183 |
| 60% | April 21 | October 28 | 179 |
| 70% | April 19 | November 1 | 174 |
| 80% | April 16 | November 4 | 169 |
| 90% | April 11 | November 9 | 163 |
| Threshold | Median last date (spring) | Median first date (autumn or winter) | Median season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36°F | May 4 | October 13 | 160 |
| 32°F | April 24 | October 26 | 183 |
| 28°F | April 13 | November 6 | 208 |
| 24°F | April 3 | November 19 | 230 |
| 20°F | March 23 | November 30 | 252 |
| 16°F | March 15 | December 10 | 271 |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 99% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 68% | 100% | 100% |
Nearby and similar places
Of the places on this site, the closest to Buffalo by station distance are Detroit, MI at 239 mi (384 km), Philadelphia, PA at 280 mi (450 km) and New York, NY at 287 mi (463 km).
Among places whose winter, summer and precipitation words are each within one band of Buffalo's (winter: cold, summer: warm, precipitation: wet), the closest monthly temperature and precipitation patterns are Boston, MA, Burlington, VT and Detroit, MI.
Compared with Detroit, MI, Buffalo's peak-month normal high is 3.5°F (1.9°C) lower, its coldest-month mean is 0.3°F (0.2°C) lower, and its annual precipitation is 6.36 in more.
| Place | Listed as | Station distance | Coldest mean °F | Warmest high °F | Precip. in/yr | Snow in/yr | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo, NY | this page | – | 25.5 | 80.2 | 40.7 | 95.4 | April 24 |
| Detroit, MI | nearby, similar | 239 mi (384 km) | 25.8 | 83.7 | 34.3 | 45.0 | April 20 |
| Philadelphia, PA | nearby | 280 mi (450 km) | 33.7 | 87.8 | 44.1 | 23.1 | April 2 |
| New York, NY | nearby | 287 mi (463 km) | 33.7 | 84.9 | 49.5 | 29.8 | March 30 |
| Boston, MA | similar | 395 mi (635 km) | 29.9 | 82.1 | 43.6 | 49.2 | April 4 |
| Burlington, VT | similar | 298 mi (480 km) | 20.9 | 82.4 | 37.5 | 87.5 | April 29 |
How nearby and similar places are chosen: methodology.
Source and station
The data for Buffalo come from NOAA station BUFFALO, NY US (USW00014733) at 42.9486, -78.7369, elevation 693 ft (211 m). It lies 7 mi (12 km) in a straight line from the center point of Buffalo city, the “internal point” in the US Census 2024 Gazetteer.
Each monthly normal used here rests on at least 27 years of data from 1991–2020 (NOAA's per-field year counts).
NOAA completeness flags on the monthly fields used here:
- S: Standard: meets WMO standards for data availability for 24 or more years.
Cite the data as:
Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00014733 (BUFFALO, NY US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/wck8-er13. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00014733 (BUFFALO, NY US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/4ek7-fk11. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Files used: monthly normals CSV, annual/seasonal normals CSV (retrieved 2026-10-09). The values on this page as JSON: /us/ny/buffalo/data.json.