Climate-Zone.com

HomeCitiesUnited StatesVirginiaCharlottesvilleTools › Weather extremes

Weather extremes

How extreme does Charlottesville's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Charlottesville 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 Staunton Wtp station 56 km away. Updated through June 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 Charlottesville has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
102°F Aug 21, 1983

That is about 19°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Charlottesville (typical high near 83°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 102°F Aug 21, 1983
2 100°F Jul 17, 1980
3 100°F Aug 23, 1983
❄️ Coldest night
-16°F Jan 27, 1987

About 41°F colder than a normal January night in Charlottesville (typical low near 25°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -16°F Jan 27, 1987
2 -15°F Jan 28, 1987
3 -14°F Jan 21, 1985
🌧️ Most rain in one day
5.60 in Oct 8, 1982

More rain in a single day than Charlottesville usually gets in the whole month of October (typical October total about 2.6 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 5.60 in Oct 8, 1982
2 5.50 in Sep 19, 2003
3 5.40 in Jul 24, 1997
Most snow in one day
20.4 in Dec 19, 2009

Close to a whole typical December's snow in one day (Charlottesville averages about 5 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 20.4 in Dec 19, 2009
2 18.0 in Jan 1, 1971
3 13.9 in Feb 13, 2014

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.

-30°-10°10°30°50°70°90°110°130° all-time high 102°F JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Charlottesville's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 102°F is about 19°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, Charlottesville's warmest days reach the mid-80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-20s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 102°F and as low as −16°F. A single day has delivered over 6 inches of rain or close to 20 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 Monticello (NOAA GHCN station USC00445700), about 3 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →