Climate and average weather in Wilson

In Wilson, the summers are muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: late March to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Wilson typically varies from 34°F to 88°F, and is rarely below 21°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 Wilson for warm-weather activities are from late March to late May and mid September to mid November.

Hottest
Jul
88°
Coldest
Jan
34°
Wettest
Sep
5.1 in
Driest
Feb
3.1 in
Rain / yr
47.1 in
123 wet days
Daylight
9.6–14.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
108 ft
35.7°N
Clearest
Oct
48% cloud

Wilson is city and the county seat of Wilson County, North Carolina, United States.

Density
648/km²
people per km²
Founded
1849

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

Wilson 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 Wilson, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.2 months, from May 19 to September 23, with daily high temperatures above 79°F. The hottest month of the year in Wilson is July, with an average high of 88°F and low of 72°F.

The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from December 1 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 59°F. The coldest month of the year in Wilson is January, with an average low of 34°F and high of 52°F.

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

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5234
Feb5536
Mar6242
Apr7251
May7960
Jun8568
Jul8872
Aug8771
Sep8164
Oct7253
Nov6242
Dec5537

How hot and cold Wilson 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, Wilson feels like about 94°F (around July 21). About 63 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 26°F (around January 23), with roughly 76 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)
Jan52522834
Feb55553036
Mar62623742
Apr72725051
May79796060
Jun87856868
Jul93887272
Aug91877171
Sep82816464
Oct72725253
Nov62623842
Dec55553137

Average hourly temperature in Wilson

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 88°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 34°F.

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

Wilson 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° / 34°3.79.31.19.92.8
Feb55° / 36°3.18.71.110.63.6
Mar62° / 42°4.110.20.411.75.5
Apr72° / 51°3.58.7012.96.9
May79° / 60°3.610.8013.96.6
Jun85° / 68°4.112.1014.44.9
Jul88° / 72°4.815.4014.23.9
Aug87° / 71°4.712.7013.44.5
Sep81° / 64°5.110.3012.26.3
Oct72° / 53°3.57.2011.17.2
Nov62° / 42°3.37.70.110.15.8
Dec55° / 37°3.69.40.59.63.6

Chance of rain

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

Wilson gets about 47.1 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 4.2 months, from around May 8 to Sep 12, peaking in July at about 50% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Oct 22.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 5.1 in over about 10 wet days; February is the driest, with 3.1 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 23 · 50%Oct 22 · 23%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan309
Feb319
Mar3210
Apr309
May3511
Jun4012
Jul4815
Aug4213
Sep3310
Oct257
Nov258
Dec319

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Wilson collects about 47.1 in of rain across 123 wet days — roughly 3.9 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 5.1 in, while February is the driest at just 3.1 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec3.73.14.13.53.64.14.84.75.13.53.33.6
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan3.791
Feb3.191
Mar4.1100
Apr3.590
May3.6110
Jun4.1120
Jul4.8150
Aug4.7130
Sep5.1100
Oct3.570
Nov3.380
Dec3.691

Snow in Wilson

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.

Wilson averages about 3 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Dec 19 to Mar 10 — about 2.7 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 1.1 day of snow and an estimated 2 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 6 in of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonJan 23
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan12
Feb13
Mar01
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec11

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Wilson, 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 September 26 and lasts for 2.4 months, ending around December 6. The clearest month is October, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 58% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 25 and lasts for 4.3 months, ending around September 2. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 53% 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 22 · 61%Jul 20 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5248
Feb4951
Mar5050
Apr5347
May5050
Jun4951
Jul4753
Aug5050
Sep5248
Oct5842
Nov5743
Dec4951

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 10, brings about 14 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.97:265:16
Feb10.67:075:46
Mar11.76:306:13
Apr12.95:456:39
May13.95:117:04
Jun14.45:007:24
Jul14.25:117:23
Aug13.45:356:57
Sep12.25:596:13
Oct11.16:245:29
Nov10.16:554:59
Dec9.67:204:56

Sunny days

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

Wilson 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 4.4 months, from around Sep 27 to Feb 8. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 14 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is July, down near 8 sunny days — about 43% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightOct 2115 daysJul 248 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun8Mixed
Jul8Mixed
Aug9Mixed
Sep10Mixed
Oct14Mixed
Nov14Mixed
Dec12Mixed

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around May 12 to October 8. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 96% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 9 to May 11, 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 24 · 99%Jul 24 · 3%oppressivehumidmuggydrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan9531000
Feb9541000
Mar8893000
Apr72169300
May3819231830
Jun7121934290
Jul04926573
Aug151431473
Sep14152228200
Oct551816830
Nov83105200
Dec9252100

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 Wilson is typically calm, near 7 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Nov 9 to May 18. The windiest month is April, averaging about 8 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 19 to Nov 8, with August the calmest month at about 5 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyApr 8 · 8 mphAug 11 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb8light breeze
Mar8light breeze
Apr8light breeze
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug5calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov7calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Wilson

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 10 · 7.3

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
Jan2.9poor
Feb3.6fair
Mar5.5fair
Apr6.8good
May6.5good
Jun4.9fair
Jul3.9fair
Aug4.5fair
Sep6.3good
Oct7.2good
Nov5.8good
Dec3.6fair

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 Wilson for hot-weather activities is from late April to mid October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 7 · 6.8

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 Wilson, 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 88°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, Wilson sees daytime highs around 88°F and nights near 72°F. Pack light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Wilson 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 Wilson peaks around July 13 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateJul 13UV 9Dec 19UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar6High
Apr7High
May8Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep7High
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Wilson

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 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
Feb3.50
Mar5.50
Apr73
May7.54
Jun85
Jul85.5
Aug7.54
Sep6.53
Oct4.50
Nov20
Dec00

Air quality in Wilson 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 Wilson is worst in July — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.3× the cleanest month (November, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1417 µg/m³Nov 238 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb10Good
Mar12Moderate
Apr12Moderate
May13Moderate
Jun17Moderate
Jul18Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct9Good
Nov8Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Wilson is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 23 to November 7 (230 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 2390%Nov 790%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan5831
Feb6628
Mar8521
Apr980
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov8522
Dec6931

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. Wilson banks about 4,796 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar79
Apr348
May600
Jun803
Jul935
Aug884
Sep683
Oct389
Nov75
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.

Wilson receives about 4.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 6.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 15 to Sep 16. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 63% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 296.3 kWhDec 202.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.6Moderate
Feb3.3Moderate
Mar4.4Bright
Apr5.6Bright
May6.0Intense
Jun6.2Intense
Jul6.0Intense
Aug5.4Bright
Sep4.4Bright
Oct3.6Moderate
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Wilson?

Wilson sits at 35.7°N, 77.9°W, 108 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Rocky Mount, 17 mi away.

Topography around Wilson

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Wilson has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 135 ft around an average of 135 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 459 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 722 ft.

The land around Wilson is covered by trees (47%) and artificial surfaces (29%) within 2 miles, trees (51%) and cropland (31%) within 10 miles, and trees (64%) and cropland (23%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
135 ft
10 miles
459 ft
50 miles
722 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Rocky Mount 17 mi · Goldsboro 24 mi · Clayton 30 mi · Greenville 32 mi · Kinston 37 mi · Wake Forest 38 mi · Garner 39 mi · Raleigh 41 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 Wilson (35.7213°, -77.9155°, elevation 108 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).