Climate and average weather in Burlington

In Burlington, the summers are humid, hot, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late August to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Burlington typically varies from 25°F to 85°F, and is rarely below 6°F or above 93°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 Burlington for warm-weather activities are from early May to mid June and late August to late October.

Hottest
Jul
85°
Coldest
Jan
25°
Wettest
May
4.8 in
Driest
Sep
2.7 in
Rain / yr
43.9 in
125 wet days
Daylight
9.3–14.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
840 ft
39.0°N
Clearest
Sep
49% cloud

Burlington is census-designated place in Boone County, Kentucky, United States.

Density
696/km²
people per km²
Founded
1799

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

Burlington 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 late August to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.4 months, from May 17 to September 28, with daily high temperatures above 74°F. The hottest month of the year in Burlington is July, with an average high of 85°F and low of 68°F.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from November 30 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 48°F. The coldest month of the year in Burlington is January, with an average low of 25°F and high of 39°F.

Days typically run about 17°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 19°F) in September.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan3925
Feb4328
Mar5336
Apr6546
May7456
Jun8265
Jul8568
Aug8467
Sep7859
Oct6647
Nov5337
Dec4330

How hot and cold Burlington 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 coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 16°F (around January 21), with roughly 127 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan39391725
Feb43432028
Mar53533036
Apr65654346
May74745656
Jun83826565
Jul87856868
Aug85846767
Sep78785959
Oct66664547
Nov53533237
Dec43432330

Average hourly temperature in Burlington

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 85°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 25°F.

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

Burlington 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
Jan39° / 25°3.39.73.89.60.0
Feb43° / 28°3.08.93.510.50.6
Mar53° / 36°4.211.51.811.72.9
Apr65° / 46°4.812.70.5135.4
May74° / 56°4.812.9014.16.2
Jun82° / 65°4.212.6014.75.7
Jul85° / 68°3.911.6014.55.1
Aug84° / 67°3.09.8013.55.6
Sep78° / 59°2.77.7012.37.1
Oct66° / 47°3.18.40.1116.3
Nov53° / 37°3.38.90.89.93.1
Dec43° / 30°3.710.12.69.30.5

Chance of rain

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

Burlington gets about 43.9 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 4.8 months, from around Mar 3 to Jul 27, peaking in May at about 46% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 4.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 4.8 in over about 13 wet days; September is the driest, with 2.7 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 1 · 46%Oct 4 · 25%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3210
Feb319
Mar3712
Apr4213
May4213
Jun4213
Jul3712
Aug3110
Sep268
Oct288
Nov309
Dec3310

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Burlington collects about 43.9 in of rain across 125 wet days — roughly 3.7 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 4.8 in, while September is the driest at just 2.7 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec3.33.04.24.84.84.23.93.02.73.13.33.7
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan3.3104
Feb3.094
Mar4.2122
Apr4.8131
May4.8130
Jun4.2130
Jul3.9120
Aug3.0100
Sep2.780
Oct3.180
Nov3.391
Dec3.7103

Snow in Burlington

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Burlington averages about 13 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 4 to Apr 15 — about 5.4 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 7 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 25 in of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 4
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan47
Feb47
Mar24
Apr10
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov11
Dec36

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Burlington, 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 May 30 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around November 10. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 59% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 11 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around May 29. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 69% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 1 · 60%Jan 10 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3268
Feb3367
Mar3763
Apr3961
May4060
Jun4852
Jul5248
Aug5743
Sep5941
Oct5149
Nov4060
Dec3169

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 9, brings about 14 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.68:025:34
Feb10.57:396:08
Mar11.76:586:39
Apr13.06:097:10
May14.15:317:39
Jun14.75:178:01
Jul14.55:307:59
Aug13.55:577:29
Sep12.36:266:41
Oct11.06:555:53
Nov9.97:295:19
Dec9.37:575:13

Sunny days

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

Burlington averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 13 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.1 months, from around Jun 17 to Nov 19. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is February, down near 6 sunny days — about 50% fewer than the September peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedSep 713 daysFeb 176 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun8Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug11Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct11Mixed
Nov9Mixed
Dec6Gloomy

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 Burlington, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around May 12 to September 25. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 81% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 26 to May 11, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 19 · 100%Jul 19 · 16%oppressivemuggydrycomfortablehumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan991000
Feb991000
Mar973000
Apr8510400
May521818121
Jun181622359
Jul513243126
Aug820242919
Sep382318174
Oct8012620
Nov964000
Dec991000

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 Burlington is typically calm, near 6 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.9 months, from around Oct 16 to May 13. The windiest month is April, averaging about 7 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 14 to Oct 15, with August the calmest month at about 5 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeApr 11 · 8 mphAug 2 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7light breeze
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Burlington

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early September, Burlington 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 Burlington for general outdoor tourist activities run from early May to mid June and again from late August to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 26 · 7.4

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.6poor
Mar3.0poor
Apr5.4fair
May6.2good
Jun5.7good
Jul5.1fair
Aug5.6good
Sep7.1good
Oct6.2good
Nov3.2poor
Dec0.6poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Burlington for hot-weather activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 7.2

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 Burlington, 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 85°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 39°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Burlington sees daytime highs around 85°F and nights near 68°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Burlington 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 Burlington peaks around June 22 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateJun 22UV 9Dec 22UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep6High
Oct3Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Burlington

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 June 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)
Jan00
Feb10
Mar50
Apr61
May7.54.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54
Sep61
Oct2.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Burlington 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 Burlington is worst in July — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.2× the cleanest month (October, 9 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1418 µg/m³Oct 249 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb11Good
Mar11Good
Apr12Good
May15Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug16Moderate
Sep12Moderate
Oct9Good
Nov9Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Burlington typically lasts about 277 days, from around March 5 to December 6 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 11 to October 29.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 550%Apr 1190%Oct 2990%Dec 650%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2931
Feb3428
Mar6431
Apr938
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct960
Nov7330
Dec4331

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. Burlington banks about 3,720 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr170
May462
Jun704
Jul829
Aug786
Sep559
Oct209
Nov0
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.

Burlington receives about 4.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.7 and 6.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.7 kWh/m² — roughly 72% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 286.3 kWhDec 171.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.0Moderate
Feb2.9Moderate
Mar4.0Moderate
Apr5.1Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun6.2Intense
Jul6.1Intense
Aug5.6Bright
Sep4.6Bright
Oct3.3Moderate
Nov2.3Moderate
Dec1.7Dim

Where is Burlington?

Burlington sits at 39.0°N, 84.7°W, 840 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Florence, 5.6 mi away.

Topography around Burlington

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Burlington has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 322 ft around an average of 840 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 541 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 843 ft.

The land around Burlington is covered by trees (47%) and grassland (38%) within 2 miles, trees (56%) and grassland (24%) within 10 miles, and trees (55%), cropland (22%) and grassland (20%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
322 ft
10 miles
541 ft
50 miles
843 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Florence 5.6 mi · Erlanger 6.8 mi · Independence 11 mi · Covington 12 mi · Newport 13 mi · Cincinnati 13 mi · White Oak 14 mi · Fort Thomas 15 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 Burlington (39.0276°, -84.7241°, elevation 840 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).