Climate and average weather in Alabaster

In Alabaster, the summers are muggy, hot, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.

Best: mid March to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Alabaster typically varies from 36°F to 89°F, and is rarely below 22°F or above 95°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Alabaster for warm-weather activities are from mid March to late May and late September to late November.

Hottest
Jul
89°
Coldest
Jan
36°
Wettest
Mar
5.5 in
Driest
Sep
3.3 in
Rain / yr
51.1 in
123 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
502 ft
33.2°N
Clearest
Oct
45% cloud

Alabaster is suburb city of Birmingham, located in Shelby County, Alabama, United States.

Density
499/km²
people per km²
Founded
1953

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Alabaster weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid March to late May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Alabaster, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.6 months, from May 14 to September 29, with daily high temperatures above 81°F. The hottest month of the year in Alabaster is July, with an average high of 89°F and low of 72°F.

The cool season lasts 2.9 months, from November 28 to February 23, with daily high temperatures below 61°F. The coldest month of the year in Alabaster is January, with an average low of 36°F and high of 54°F.

Days typically run about 19°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5436
Feb5939
Mar6646
Apr7453
May8162
Jun8769
Jul8972
Aug8971
Sep8465
Oct7554
Nov6444
Dec5639

How hot and cold Alabaster really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Alabaster feels like about 96°F (around July 21). About 84 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 30°F (around January 18), with roughly 37 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan54543136
Feb59593439
Mar66664246
Apr74745253
May81816162
Jun90876969
Jul95897272
Aug94897171
Sep86846565
Oct75755454
Nov64644044
Dec57563439

Average hourly temperature in Alabaster

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 89°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 36°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Alabaster weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan54° / 36°4.89.80.5103.4
Feb59° / 39°5.110.30.310.84.4
Mar66° / 46°5.5110.211.76.0
Apr74° / 53°4.39.2012.87.0
May81° / 62°3.89.8013.76.4
Jun87° / 69°4.112.9014.24.4
Jul89° / 72°4.414.40143.7
Aug89° / 71°3.812.6013.24.0
Sep84° / 65°3.37.7012.25.8
Oct75° / 54°3.37011.27.5
Nov64° / 44°3.97.8010.36.2
Dec56° / 39°5.010.10.19.83.9

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Alabaster gets about 51.1 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.2 months, from around May 23 to Aug 27, peaking in July at about 49% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 3.

March is the wettest month by volume, with 5.5 in over about 11 wet days; September is the driest, with 3.3 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 6 · 49%Oct 3 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3210
Feb3610
Mar3511
Apr319
May3210
Jun4213
Jul4614
Aug4013
Sep268
Oct237
Nov258
Dec3310

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Alabaster collects about 51.1 in of rain across 123 wet days — roughly 4.3 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. March is the wettest month with 5.5 in, while September is the driest at just 3.3 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 30% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4.85.15.54.33.84.14.43.83.33.33.95.0
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan4.8101
Feb5.1100
Mar5.5110
Apr4.390
May3.8100
Jun4.1130
Jul4.4140
Aug3.8130
Sep3.380
Oct3.370
Nov3.980
Dec5.0100

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Alabaster, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around August 10 and lasts for 3.6 months, ending around November 26. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 60% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 27 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around April 13. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 56% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 2 · 62%Jan 2 · 43%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4654
Feb4555
Mar4753
Apr5248
May5347
Jun5149
Jul5050
Aug5347
Sep6040
Oct6040
Nov5545
Dec4456

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 11, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.06:564:57
Feb10.86:395:25
Mar11.76:055:49
Apr12.85:236:12
May13.74:526:35
Jun14.24:426:53
Jul14.04:536:53
Aug13.25:146:29
Sep12.25:365:48
Oct11.25:575:07
Nov10.36:254:40
Dec9.86:494:38

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Alabaster averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 15 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.1 months, from around Sep 4 to Dec 5. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 15 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 8 sunny days — about 47% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightOct 2015 daysJul 278 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun9Mixed
Jul8Gloomy
Aug10Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct15Mixed
Nov13Mixed
Dec11Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Alabaster, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.1 months, from around May 6 to October 6. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 7 to May 5, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 97% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 25 · 98%Jul 26 · 1%muggyoppressivehumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9163000
Feb8883000
Mar78157100
Apr582017500
May2319242940
Jun281637370
Jul02621673
Aug041128553
Sep12142330210
Oct5317161220
Nov81106300
Dec8784100

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Alabaster is typically calm, near 6 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.5 months, from around Oct 22 to May 8. The windiest month is March, averaging about 7 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 9 to Oct 21, with July the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeMar 3 · 7 mphJul 26 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Alabaster

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Alabaster throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late March, Alabaster is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Alabaster for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid March to late May and again from late September to late November, with a peak score in the third week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 15 · 7.6

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan3.4poor
Feb4.4fair
Mar6.0good
Apr6.9good
May6.4good
Jun4.5fair
Jul3.7fair
Aug4.0fair
Sep5.8good
Oct7.4good
Nov6.2good
Dec4.0fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Alabaster for hot-weather activities run from late April to late June and again from late July to late October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 20 · 7.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Alabaster, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 89°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 54°F), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Alabaster sees daytime highs around 89°F and nights near 72°F. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Alabaster by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Alabaster peaks around July 14 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highVery highHighModerateJul 14UV 10Dec 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5High
Mar6High
Apr8Very high
May8Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct5High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Alabaster

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan2.50
Feb50
Mar62
Apr74
May85
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep73.5
Oct50
Nov40
Dec00

Air quality in Alabaster by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Alabaster is worst in July — around 21 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.4× the cleanest month (January, 6 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1820 µg/m³Jan 116 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan6Good
Feb9Good
Mar11Good
Apr10Good
May13Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul21Moderate
Aug18Moderate
Sep14Moderate
Oct10Good
Nov8Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Alabaster is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 14 to November 9 (241 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1490%Nov 990%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan6531
Feb7628
Mar9113
Apr990
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov8719
Dec7331

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Alabaster banks about 5,283 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb12
Mar186
Apr395
May657
Jun838
Jul949
Aug927
Sep748
Oct451
Nov121
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Alabaster receives about 4.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 26. The brightest month is May, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.4 kWh/m² — roughly 61% less than the May peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMay 196.2 kWhDec 222.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.6Moderate
Feb3.3Moderate
Mar4.5Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May6.2Intense
Jun6.1Intense
Jul6.0Bright
Aug5.6Bright
Sep4.8Bright
Oct4.0Moderate
Nov3.0Moderate
Dec2.4Moderate

Where is Alabaster?

Alabaster sits at 33.2°N, 86.8°W, 502 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Pelham, 3.1 mi away.

Topography around Alabaster

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Alabaster.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Alabaster has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 715 ft around an average of 561 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,073 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,814 ft.

The land around Alabaster is covered by trees (68%) within 2 miles, trees (79%) within 10 miles, and trees (87%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
715 ft
10 miles
1,073 ft
50 miles
1,814 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Pelham 3.1 mi · Helena 3.7 mi · Hoover 11 mi · Bessemer 14 mi · Vestavia Hills 14 mi · Homewood 16 mi · Hueytown 17 mi · Mountain Brook 18 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Alabaster (33.2443°, -86.8164°, elevation 502 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).