How extreme does Wilkes-Barre's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Wilkes-Barre 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 (1971–present), from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Intl Ap station 16 km away. 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 Wilkes-Barre has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

101°F Jul 16, 1988

That is about 16°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Wilkes-Barre (typical high near 85°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 101°F Jul 16, 1988

2 100°F Jul 15, 1995

3 99°F Jul 8, 1988

❄️ Coldest night

-21°F Jan 21, 1994

About 41°F colder than a normal January night in Wilkes-Barre (typical low near 20°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -21°F Jan 21, 1994

2 -16°F Feb 18, 1979

3 -14°F Jan 21, 1985

🌧️ Most rain in one day

5.98 in Sep 27, 1985

More rain in a single day than Wilkes-Barre usually gets in the whole month of September (typical September total about 4.2 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 5.98 in Sep 27, 1985

2 5.09 in Sep 1, 2021

3 4.91 in Sep 16, 1999

⛄ Most snow in one day

22.1 in Mar 14, 2017

Close to a whole typical March's snow in one day (Wilkes-Barre averages about 10 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 22.1 in Mar 14, 2017

2 18.7 in Mar 13, 1993

3 18.5 in Nov 25, 1971

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.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Wilkes-Barre's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 101°F is about 16°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, Wilkes-Barre'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 101°F and as low as −21°F. A single day has delivered over 6 inches of rain or close to 22 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 Wilkes-barre/scranton Intl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014777), about 16 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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