Average Weather at Rutherford County Airport North Carolina, United States

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At Rutherford County Airport, the summers are hot and muggy, the winters are chilly, and it is wet and partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 32°F to 88°F and is rarely below 19°F or above 95°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.7 months, from May 25 to September 16, with an average daily high temperature above 81°F. The hottest day of the year is July 21, with an average high of 88°F and low of 69°F.

The cool season lasts for 3.0 months, from November 27 to February 28, with an average daily high temperature below 59°F. The coldest day of the year is January 29, with an average low of 32°F and high of 53°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Rutherford County Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Rutherford County Airport begins around August 2 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around November 19. On October 8, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 66% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 34% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 19 and lasts for 8.5 months, ending around August 2. On January 3, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 50% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 50% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Rutherford County Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 3.5 months, from May 12 to August 29, with a greater than 35% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 48% on July 28.

The drier season lasts 8.5 months, from August 29 to May 12. The smallest chance of a wet day is 20% on October 29.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 48% on July 28.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Rutherford County Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year at Rutherford County Airport. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around March 21, with an average total accumulation of 3.9 inches.

The least rain falls around October 29, with an average total accumulation of 3.0 inches.

Snowfall

The sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent quantity of snowfall at Rutherford County Airport does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 0.1 inches of 0.1 inches throughout.

The length of the day at Rutherford County Airport varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 46 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 33 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 6:12 AM on June 13, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 41 minutes later at 7:52 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 5:14 PM on December 5, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 32 minutes later at 8:46 PM on June 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Rutherford County Airport during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

Rutherford County Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.2 months, from May 21 to September 28, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 20% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is July 25, with muggy conditions 81% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is February 9, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed at Rutherford County Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 6.4 months, from November 1 to May 13, with average wind speeds of more than 2.5 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is March 8, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.1 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 5.6 months, from May 13 to November 1. The calmest day of the year is August 1, with an average hourly wind speed of 1.9 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Rutherford County Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the north for 4.0 months, from August 6 to December 7, with a peak percentage of 36% on October 15. The wind is most often from the west for 8.0 months, from December 7 to August 6, with a peak percentage of 35% on January 1.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 4.3 months, from April 15 to August 25, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.9 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 23, with an average of 6.9 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 2.9 months, from November 9 to February 7, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 3.4 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 25, with an average of 2.5 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Rutherford County Airport are 35.430 deg latitude, -81.935 deg longitude, and 974 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Rutherford County Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 285 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 972 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,745 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (6,260 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Rutherford County Airport is covered by trees (84%) and cropland (16%), within 10 miles by trees (86%) and cropland (11%), and within 50 miles by trees (76%) and cropland (17%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Rutherford County Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Rutherford County Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back include but are not limited to Shelby Municipal Airport; Foothills Regional Airport; Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport; Asheville Regional Airport; Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport; Hickory Regional Airport; Greenville Downtown Airport; and Lincolnton, Lincolnton-Lincoln County Regional Airport.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.