Climate and average weather in York

In York, the summers are hot, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid August to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in York typically varies from 26°F to 86°F, and is rarely below 10°F or above 94°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 York for warm-weather activities are from late April to late June and mid August to late October.

Hottest
Jul
86°
Coldest
Jan
26°
Wettest
Sep
4.3 in
Driest
Feb
2.8 in
Rain / yr
41.2 in
116 wet days
Daylight
9.2–14.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
387 ft
40.0°N
Clearest
Oct
54% cloud

York is city in and county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Density
3,180/km²
people per km²
Founded
1741

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

York 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 August to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.1 months, from May 22 to September 23, with daily high temperatures above 74°F. The hottest month of the year in York is July, with an average high of 86°F and low of 69°F.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from December 2 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 48°F. The coldest month of the year in York is January, with an average low of 26°F and high of 39°F.

Days typically run about 16°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan3926
Feb4227
Mar5134
Apr6345
May7355
Jun8164
Jul8669
Aug8367
Sep7760
Oct6548
Nov5338
Dec4431

How hot and cold York 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 23), with roughly 131 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)
Jan39391726
Feb42421927
Mar51512834
Apr63634145
May72735455
Jun82816464
Jul87866969
Aug84836767
Sep77776060
Oct65654648
Nov53533238
Dec44442431

Average hourly temperature in York

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 86°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 26°F.

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

York 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° / 26°3.19.14.19.50.0
Feb42° / 27°2.88.83.910.40.4
Mar51° / 34°3.810.1311.72.6
Apr63° / 45°3.610.60.3135.4
May73° / 55°3.511.4014.26.4
Jun81° / 64°3.410.7014.86.0
Jul86° / 69°3.610.5014.55.0
Aug83° / 67°3.210.1013.65.7
Sep77° / 60°4.39.1012.36.9
Oct65° / 48°3.58.20.110.96.1
Nov53° / 38°3.08.10.69.83.3
Dec44° / 31°3.58.92.39.20.7

Chance of rain

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

York gets about 41.2 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 5.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Aug 21, peaking in May at about 37% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Nov 2.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 4.3 in over about 9 wet days; February is the driest, with 2.8 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 13 · 37%Nov 2 · 25%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan309
Feb319
Mar3210
Apr3511
May3611
Jun3511
Jul3411
Aug3310
Sep299
Oct278
Nov278
Dec299

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, York collects about 41.2 in of rain across 116 wet days — roughly 3.4 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 4.3 in, while February is the driest at just 2.8 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

012345JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec3.12.83.83.63.53.43.63.24.33.53.03.5
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan3.194
Feb2.894
Mar3.8103
Apr3.6110
May3.5110
Jun3.4110
Jul3.6110
Aug3.2100
Sep4.390
Oct3.580
Nov3.081
Dec3.592

Snow in York

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.

York averages about 14 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 12 to Apr 10 — about 4.9 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 13 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 41 in of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 9
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan49
Feb413
Mar310
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov12
Dec27

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In York, 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 June 24 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around November 22. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 53% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 23 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around June 23. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 60% 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 6 · 55%Mar 26 · 37%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4060
Feb4159
Mar4060
Apr4060
May4258
Jun4456
Jul5050
Aug5248
Sep5347
Oct5347
Nov4852
Dec4159

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 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.57:325:00
Feb10.47:095:34
Mar11.76:266:07
Apr13.05:366:39
May14.24:577:09
Jun14.84:437:32
Jul14.54:557:30
Aug13.65:236:59
Sep12.35:536:09
Oct10.96:245:20
Nov9.87:004:45
Dec9.27:284:38

Sunny days

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

York averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 7 and 12 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.6 months, from around Aug 8 to Nov 25. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 7 sunny days — about 35% fewer than the October peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedOct 712 daysJan 187 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun8Gloomy
Jul9Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct12Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec8Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around May 21 to September 30. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 72% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 1 to May 20, 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 20 · 100%Jul 24 · 24%oppressivemuggydryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan991000
Feb1000000
Mar991000
Apr926100
May65181250
Jun282321244
Jul1018263313
Aug1321263010
Sep422218163
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 York is typically calm, near 7 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Oct 16 to May 8. The windiest month is March, averaging about 8 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 9 to Oct 15, with August the calmest month at about 5 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyMar 4 · 8 mphAug 7 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan8light breeze
Feb8light breeze
Mar8light breeze
Apr8light breeze
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep6calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec8light breeze

Best time to visit York

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, York 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 York for general outdoor tourist activities run from late April to late June and again from mid August to late October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 17 · 7.1

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
Feb0.4poor
Mar2.6poor
Apr5.3fair
May6.4good
Jun6.0good
Jul5.1fair
Aug5.7good
Sep6.9good
Oct6.1good
Nov3.3poor
Dec0.7poor

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 York 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 26 · 7.0

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 York, 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 86°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, York sees daytime highs around 86°F and nights near 69°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in York 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 York peaks around June 22 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 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 highHighModerateLowJun 22UV 9Dec 20UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug7High
Sep6High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in York

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 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 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
Apr60.5
May84.5
Jun85
Jul85
Aug72.5
Sep60
Oct2.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in York 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 York is worst in July — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.1× the cleanest month (November, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1417 µg/m³Nov 138 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb12Good
Mar13Moderate
Apr13Moderate
May15Moderate
Jun16Moderate
Jul17Moderate
Aug15Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct9Good
Nov8Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in York typically lasts about 276 days, from around March 9 to December 9 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 9 to November 1.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 950%Apr 990%Nov 190%Dec 950%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2731
Feb3028
Mar6131
Apr946
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov7628
Dec4531

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. York banks about 3,595 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
Apr126
May417
Jun678
Jul840
Aug783
Sep546
Oct204
Nov1
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.

York receives about 4.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.8 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 20. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.8 kWh/m² — roughly 70% less than the July peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 26.2 kWhDec 161.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.1Moderate
Feb3.0Moderate
Mar4.0Bright
Apr5.1Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun6.1Intense
Jul6.0Intense
Aug5.3Bright
Sep4.2Bright
Oct3.2Moderate
Nov2.3Moderate
Dec1.8Dim

Where is York?

York sits at 40.0°N, 76.7°W, 387 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Hanover, 17 mi away.

Topography around York

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around York has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 676 ft around an average of 436 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 951 ft; within 50 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,398 ft.

The land around York is covered by artificial surfaces (51%) and trees (29%) within 2 miles, trees (45%), grassland (25%) and cropland (20%) within 10 miles, and trees (53%) and cropland (22%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
676 ft
10 miles
951 ft
50 miles
2,398 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Hanover 17 mi · Lancaster 23 mi · Harrisburg 23 mi · Carlisle 29 mi · Westminster 30 mi · Lebanon 31 mi · Hunt Valley 32 mi · Cockeysville 34 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 York (39.9626°, -76.7277°, elevation 387 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).