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Weather extremes

How extreme does Lancaster's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Lancaster has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1974–present), from the Lancaster station. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Lancaster has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
100°F Jul 6, 2012

That is about 15°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Lancaster (typical high near 85°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 100°F Jul 6, 2012
2 100°F Jul 7, 2012
3 100°F Jul 8, 2012
❄️ Coldest night
-99°F Apr 11, 2011

About 140°F colder than a normal April night in Lancaster (typical low near 41°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -99°F Apr 11, 2011
2 -12°F Jan 28, 2014
3 -12°F Jan 29, 2014
🌧️ Most rain in one day
4.55 in Jan 5, 2004

More rain in a single day than Lancaster usually gets in the whole month of January (typical January total about 2.9 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 4.55 in Jan 5, 2004
2 3.02 in Jul 6, 2022
3 2.98 in Sep 9, 2004
Most snow in one day
6.0 in Jan 26, 2004

The three most extreme on record

1 6.0 in Jan 26, 2004
2 1.2 in May 18, 2002
3 0.8 in May 14, 2002

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

-110°-90°-70°-50°-30°-10°10°30°50°70°90°110° all-time high 100°F JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Lancaster's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 100°F is about 15°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Lancaster's warmest days reach the mid-80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the low 20s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 100°F and as low as −99°F. A single day has delivered over 5 inches of rain or close to 6 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.
Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at John Glenn Intl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014821), about 39 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →