Climate and average weather in Oxford

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

Best: late March to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Oxford typically varies from 35°F to 90°F, and is rarely below 21°F or above 97°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 Oxford for warm-weather activities are from late March to late May and late September to mid November.

Hottest
Jul
90°
Coldest
Jan
35°
Wettest
Dec
5.2 in
Driest
Aug
3.2 in
Rain / yr
51.6 in
119 wet days
Daylight
9.7–14.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
505 ft
34.4°N
Clearest
Oct
44% cloud

Oxford is city and county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States.

Density
524/km²
people per km²
Founded
1837

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

Oxford 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 March to late May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.5 months, from May 16 to September 29, with daily high temperatures above 81°F. The hottest month of the year in Oxford is July, with an average high of 90°F and low of 73°F.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from November 27 to February 25, with daily high temperatures below 59°F. The coldest month of the year in Oxford is January, with an average low of 35°F and high of 52°F.

Days typically run about 18°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5235
Feb5638
Mar6545
Apr7354
May8163
Jun8871
Jul9073
Aug9072
Sep8565
Oct7454
Nov6344
Dec5438

How hot and cold Oxford 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, Oxford feels like about 97°F (around July 20). About 89 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 29°F (around January 16), with roughly 55 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)
Jan52523035
Feb56563338
Mar65654245
Apr73735354
May81816363
Jun91887071
Jul96907373
Aug95907272
Sep86856565
Oct74745454
Nov63634044
Dec54543338

Average hourly temperature in Oxford

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 90°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 35°F.

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

Oxford 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
Jan52° / 35°4.810.20.6102.8
Feb56° / 38°4.810.10.710.73.8
Mar65° / 45°5.111.30.211.75.7
Apr73° / 54°4.810012.86.8
May81° / 63°4.810.5013.86.3
Jun88° / 71°3.711.4014.34.4
Jul90° / 73°3.912014.13.7
Aug90° / 72°3.210.2013.34.0
Sep85° / 65°3.36.9012.25.8
Oct74° / 54°3.87.5011.17.4
Nov63° / 44°4.18.8010.25.7
Dec54° / 38°5.210.10.29.73.3

Chance of rain

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

Oxford gets about 51.6 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 3.0 months, from around May 19 to Aug 16, peaking in July at about 41% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 1.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 5.2 in over about 10 wet days; August is the driest, with 3.2 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 6 · 41%Oct 1 · 21%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3310
Feb3610
Mar3611
Apr3410
May3411
Jun3811
Jul3912
Aug3210
Sep237
Oct258
Nov299
Dec3310

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Oxford collects about 51.6 in of rain across 119 wet days — roughly 4.3 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 5.2 in, while August is the driest at just 3.2 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4.84.85.14.84.83.73.93.23.33.84.15.2
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan4.8101
Feb4.8101
Mar5.1110
Apr4.8100
May4.8110
Jun3.7110
Jul3.9120
Aug3.2100
Sep3.370
Oct3.880
Nov4.190
Dec5.2100

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Oxford, 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 July 16 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around November 23. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 24 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around June 3. The cloudiest month is February, 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 1 · 70%Feb 21 · 42%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4555
Feb4456
Mar4555
Apr5050
May5149
Jun5545
Jul5446
Aug5842
Sep6535
Oct6337
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 12, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.07:095:06
Feb10.76:515:34
Mar11.76:166:00
Apr12.85:336:24
May13.85:016:48
Jun14.34:507:07
Jul14.15:017:06
Aug13.35:236:41
Sep12.25:465:59
Oct11.16:095:17
Nov10.26:384:49
Dec9.77:034:46

Sunny days

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

Oxford averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.6 months, from around Aug 14 to Nov 30. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is February, down near 10 sunny days — about 37% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightOct 217 daysFeb 229 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar10Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun11Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug12Mixed
Sep15Mixed
Oct16Bright
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 Oxford, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.0 months, from around May 3 to October 2. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 3 to May 2, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 98% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 23 · 99%Jul 29 · 2%miserablehumidmuggyoppressivecomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9352000
Feb9172000
Mar83116000
Apr591916600
May2417242960
Jun491531411
Jul03819638
Aug151328476
Sep18142227180
Oct5815151020
Nov83105200
Dec9163000

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

The windier part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Oct 21 to May 15. The windiest month is March, averaging about 7 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 16 to Oct 20, with July the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeMar 1 · 7 mphJul 25 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Oxford

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid May, Oxford is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Oxford for general outdoor tourist activities run from late March to late May and again from late September to mid November, with a peak score in the second week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 9 · 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
Jan2.8poor
Feb3.8fair
Mar5.7good
Apr6.7good
May6.3good
Jun4.4fair
Jul3.7fair
Aug4.0fair
Sep5.8good
Oct7.3good
Nov5.7good
Dec3.3poor

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 Oxford for hot-weather activities is from early May to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 23 · 7.6

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 Oxford, 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 90°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 52°F), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Oxford sees daytime highs around 90°F and nights near 73°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Oxford 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 Oxford peaks around June 21 at about 10 (very high) — 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 highHighModerateJun 21UV 10Dec 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar6High
Apr8Very high
May9Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Oxford

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 6 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)
Jan20
Feb4.50
Mar62
Apr7.54.5
May85
Jun8.56
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov3.50
Dec00

Air quality in Oxford 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 Oxford is worst in July — around 20 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.2× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1519 µg/m³Dec 226 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan6Good
Feb8Good
Mar11Good
Apr10Good
May13Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul20Moderate
Aug16Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct8Good
Nov7Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Oxford 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 12 (244 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1490%Nov 1290%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan6231
Feb7428
Mar9111
Apr990
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov8816
Dec7231

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. Oxford banks about 5,325 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
Feb1
Mar156
Apr396
May670
Jun870
Jul983
Aug958
Sep759
Oct437
Nov96
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.

Oxford receives about 4.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 20 to Oct 1. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 64% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 176.4 kWhDec 182.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.5Moderate
Feb3.2Moderate
Mar4.3Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May6.1Intense
Jun6.3Intense
Jul6.2Intense
Aug5.8Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct3.9Moderate
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.2Moderate

Where is Oxford?

Oxford sits at 34.4°N, 89.5°W, 505 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Hernando, 42 mi away.

Topography around Oxford

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Oxford has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 249 ft around an average of 482 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 410 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 646 ft.

The land around Oxford is covered by trees (58%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 2 miles, trees (83%) within 10 miles, and trees (72%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
249 ft
10 miles
410 ft
50 miles
646 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Hernando 42 mi · Olive Branch 45 mi · Tupelo 47 mi · Collierville 47 mi · Horn Lake 50 mi · Southaven 52 mi · Germantown 52 mi · Cordova 57 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 Oxford (34.3665°, -89.5192°, elevation 505 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).