Knoxville climate — normals and trends
Knoxville (United States) has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 14.6 °C and it receives 1,183 mm of precipitation per year.
These figures are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme.
The warmest month is July (24.9 °C on average) and the coldest is January (3.3 °C). Rainfall peaks in March.
Knoxville averages 60 frost days, 51 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 134 rainy days per year.
Knoxville has warmed by +1.7 °C between 1940 and 2025, or +0.20 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The number of frost days there went from about 69 to 51 per year over the period.
The hottest day of the period reached 40.4 °C (on 1 July 2012) and the coldest -29.7 °C (on 21 January 1985).
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
Climate normals · ERA5
KnoxvilleTennessee
- coords
- 35.96°, -83.92°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
Mean daily temperature
14.6°C
Average daily high
20.0°C
Average daily low
9.8°C
Annual rainfall
1,183mm
Sunshine / day
9.0h
Mean relative humidity
72%
Average peak wind
12.7km/h
Seasonal range
21.6°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
60 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
51 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
134 d/yr
Annual snowfall
21.9 cm
Average feels-like high
19.8 °C
Average feels-like low
8.7 °C
Average peak gust
31.8 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
57 d/yr
Solar radiation
15.5 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
One stripe per year, 1940 to 2025
+1.7 °C
since 1940
+0.2 °C per decade · r² = 0.36 · p = < 0.001
Trend fitted by linear regression (ordinary least squares) on annual means. A trend is shown only when it is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
A climograph overlays rainfall (bars) and temperature (line): the standard reading in climatology, where you can see at a glance whether the warm season is also the dry one.
Records for the period
Hottest day
40.4 °C
1 July 2012
Coldest day
-29.7 °C
21 January 1985
Wettest day
105 mm
29 September 1944
Windiest day
39.2 km/h
3 March 2023
Strongest gust
105.8 km/h
10 March 1964
Hottest feels-like
43.6 °C
21 August 1983
Coldest feels-like
-35.2 °C
21 January 1985
Snowiest day
36.1 cm
13 March 1993
Sunniest day
14.3 h
19 June 2022
Normals computed over complete calendar years 1940–2025.
A specific year
Pick a year and see how it compares to normal — warmer, drier or more extreme than usual?
Across the whole year
Month by month
| High | vs. normal | Precipitation | vs. normal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5.8 °C | -2.3 °C | 74 mm | -37 mm |
| Feb | 13.2 °C | +2.7 °C | 137 mm | +23 mm |
| Mar | 19.5 °C | +4.2 °C | 56 mm | -67 mm |
| Apr | 23.3 °C | +2.8 °C | 111 mm | +7 mm |
| May | 24.5 °C | -0.2 °C | 149 mm | +56 mm |
| Jun | 30.9 °C | +2.1 °C | 106 mm | +18 mm |
| Jul | 33.3 °C | +3.3 °C | 87 mm | -26 mm |
| Aug | 29.1 °C | -0.5 °C | 112 mm | +24 mm |
| Sep | 28.1 °C | +1.2 °C | 66 mm | -16 mm |
| Oct | 22.3 °C | +1.0 °C | 89 mm | +19 mm |
| Nov | 16.5 °C | +1.7 °C | 71 mm | -20 mm |
| Dec | 11.2 °C | +1.5 °C | 64 mm | -42 mm |
The year's extremes
What was the weather like that day?
Your birthday, a wedding, a memorable trip: discover the actual weather for any date since 1940.
Frequently asked questions
What is the climate of Knoxville?
Knoxville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 14.6 °C and it receives 1,183 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Knoxville?
The hottest day measured in Knoxville between 1940 and 2025 was 1 July 2012, reaching 40.4 °C.
What is the coldest day in Knoxville?
The coldest day measured in Knoxville between 1940 and 2025 was 21 January 1985, at -29.7 °C.
Does it snow in Knoxville?
Yes. Knoxville gets on average 21.9 cm of snow per year and has around 60 frost days.
Has the climate of Knoxville warmed?
Yes: Knoxville warmed by +1.7 °C between 1940 and 2025, a statistically significant trend.
What is the wettest day in Knoxville?
The wettest day measured in Knoxville between 1940 and 2025 was 29 September 1944, with 105 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Knoxville?
The windiest day measured in Knoxville between 1940 and 2025 was 3 March 2023, with winds reaching 39.2 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Knoxville?
The warmest month in Knoxville is July (24.9 °C on average); the coldest is January (3.3 °C).
How much does it rain in Knoxville?
Knoxville receives on average 1,183 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 134 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Knoxville?
Knoxville gets on average 9.0 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 3,285 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Knoxville?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Knoxville between 1940 and 2025 was 13 March 1993, with 36.1 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Knoxville?
Yes: Knoxville has on average 57 tropical nights per year (temperature staying above 20 °C), over 1940-2025.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Knoxville?
In Knoxville, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 43.6 °C on 21 August 1983, and the lowest was -35.2 °C on 21 January 1985.
Compare Knoxville with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Knoxville