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Columbus weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Ohio's capital works through the full Midwestern four seasons, with muggy summers and cold, cloudy winters, yet sits far enough inland to dodge both lake-effect snow and the coast's big storms. Columbus weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, extremes and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

+2.7°Fhigh above average

65° / 35°Today
62° / 44°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+3.5°Faverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–4982frost days a year now (2016–2025) · 107 in the 1940sfrost days a year · 107 in the 1940s36days above 86°F a year now (2016–2025) · 22 in the 1940sdays above 86°F · 22 in the 1940s+3.5°F vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 3.3 incheshigh 37°low 23°February, rain 3.1 incheshigh 40°low 25°March, rain 4.1 incheshigh 51°low 33°April, rain 4.2 incheshigh 63°low 43°May, rain 4.3 incheshigh 73°low 53°June, rain 3.8 incheshigh 81°low 62°July, rain 3.7 incheshigh 84°low 66°August, rain 3.0 incheshigh 83°low 65°September, rain 2.8 incheshigh 77°low 58°October, rain 2.7 incheshigh 65°low 46°November, rain 3.4 incheshigh 52°low 36°December, rain 3.5 incheshigh 41°low 27°wettest month May, 4.3 inches · 42.0 inches a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Clear

Right now

53.2°

46°feels like
33%humidity
25°dew point
5 mphfrom SE
UV index0.0
sunrise07:45sunset18:48day length11h 02m
SunClear65°35°
TodayClear67°40°
TueClear68°39°
WedClear68°50°
ThuClear67°48°
FriClear68°50°
SatClear69°50°

On this date: October 19

Today (forecast)
65° / 35°
Average for October 19
62° / 44°

High above average · +2.7°F

  • Highest since 1940: 82.7° · 1953
  • Lowest since 1940: 27.0° · 1992
  • One year ago: 75° / 51°

Every October 19 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 19 on record (n = 86). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Columbus is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 39.96°N, 83.00°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
39.96°N, 83.00°W
Time zone
America/New York
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

17 of the last 30 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +2.2°F.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

Columbus sits squarely in the middle of Ohio, on the gently rolling till plains of the state's interior. Its humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa, close to the subtropical Cfa line) brings warm, muggy summers and cold, fairly dry winters. The city is too far south and west to catch much lake-effect snow off Lake Erie, though the northern lakes still feed the long grey overcast that settles in for much of the winter.

Snowfall is modest by Great Lakes standards, and Columbus also lies outside the usual track of the coastal storms that bury cities to the east. The real drama comes in the warmer half of the year, in the thunderstorms, hail and occasional tornado typical of the Midwest; an F2 twister cut through the area in October 2006. Floods, blizzards and ice storms turn up from time to time without ever dominating the record.

The year peaks in July, at around 84.0°F by mid-afternoon, with nights around 66.2°F. On about 50 nights a year, the temperature never drops below 68°F. At the other extreme, January brings afternoon highs of about 36.6°F and typical overnight lows of 22.6°F. Frost shows up on around 80 mornings a year.

In total, Columbus averages about 42.0 inches of precipitation a year; May is usually the wettest month (4.3 inches) and October the driest (2.7 inches).

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Columbus has climbed 3.5°F from the first ten years to the last ten. The count of days past 86°F has risen from roughly 20 a year to 35 between the record's first and last decades.

Sources:en.wikipedia.orgbritannica.comweather.gov

Climate graph (climograph)

July is the warmest month, January the coolest: a yearly swing of 46°F. Wettest month: May (~4.3 in). Whole year averages ~42.0 inches of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Rainy days by month

About 108 rainy days a year: most in May (~11), fewest in October (~7).

Bars = average number of days with ≥ 0.08 in per month. Hover for the monthly rainfall total.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Columbus month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Highest and Lowest are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRainy daysDaylightHighestLowest
January36.6°22.6°3.3 in99.5 h73.1° (1950)−23.2° (1994)
February40.4°24.8°3.1 in810.5 h75.9° (2017)−12.7° (2015)
March50.8°33.1°4.1 in1011.7 h84.4° (2012)−9.1° (1943)
April62.9°43.3°4.2 in1113.1 h86.9° (1990)15.9° (1982)
May72.6°53.4°4.3 in1114.2 h92.5° (1962)25.7° (1966)
June80.8°62.3°3.8 in1014.8 h101.6° (1988)37.5° (1972)
July84.0°66.2°3.7 in1014.6 h102.5° (1988)47.8° (1968)
August82.8°64.6°3.0 in913.6 h99.4° (1983)41.2° (1965)
September76.7°57.6°2.8 in712.2 h98.5° (1954)33.0° (1974)
October65.3°46.5°2.7 in710.9 h92.5° (2019)21.4° (1952)
November52.0°36.5°3.4 in89.7 h80.1° (2016)−7.2° (1958)
December40.7°27.4°3.5 in99.2 h73.4° (1982)−17.9° (1989)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +3.5°F.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.37°F per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Mar–May is warming fastest: +0.55°F per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 86°F per year: 21.9 early in the record → 36.3 recently. Frost days: 107 → 82.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

Hottest day since 1940 in 1988, coldest in 1994: 102.5°F / −23.2°F.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~42.0 in/year on average. Last decade: +11% vs that average. Long-term trend: +0.84 in per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Columbus

Which is the warmest month in Columbus?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Columbus is July (mean daily temperature of about 74.7°F) and the coolest is January (about 28.8°F).
How does today's temperature in Columbus compare to the historical average?
On October 19, 2026, Columbus is forecast to reach a high of 64.8°F and a low of 34.7°F. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 62.0°F and a low of 43.7°F, so today's high is 2.7°F warmer than that average.
How much has Columbus warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Columbus is about 3.5°F warmer.
How much does it rain in Columbus?
Columbus receives about 42.0 inches of precipitation per year on long-term average, with May typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Columbus?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Columbus is about 52.8°F. The warmest month is July and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Columbus by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Columbus (°F, full record since 1940): January 37°/23°, February 40°/25°, March 51°/33°, April 63°/43°, May 73°/53°, June 81°/62°, July 84°/66°, August 83°/65°, September 77°/58°, October 65°/46°, November 52°/36°, December 41°/27°.
What is the weather like in Columbus in summer?
In summer, June through August, Columbus is warm. Expect 81–84°F by day and 62–66°F at night, with July the warmest month. Rain falls on about 9 days a month, adding up to around 3.5 inches.
What is the weather like in Columbus in winter?
In winter, December through February, Columbus is cold. Daytime highs sit at 37–41°F and nights at 23–27°F; January is the coldest month. Rain and snow are steady at around 3.3 inches a month, spread over roughly 9 days.
What is the weather like in Columbus in spring?
Spring in Columbus (March to May) is wet and fairly mild. March starts at 51°F by day and 33°F at night; by May it is 73°F and 53°F. Rain falls on about 11 days a month, adding up to around 4.2 inches.
What is the weather like in Columbus in autumn?
In autumn, September through November, Columbus is mild. It cools from 77°F by day and 58°F at night in September to 52°F and 36°F in November. Rain is steady at around 3.0 inches a month, spread over roughly 7 days.
How many days a year does it rain in Columbus?
On long-term average, Columbus has about 108 days a year with at least 0.08 inches of rain or snow. The annual total is roughly 42.0 inches.

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