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Weather extremes

How extreme does Hickory's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Hickory 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 Statesville 2 Nne station 42 km away. Updated through July 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 Hickory has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
106°F Aug 18, 1988

That is about 20°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Hickory (typical high near 86°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 106°F Aug 18, 1988
2 103°F Jul 8, 1977
3 103°F Aug 21, 1983
❄️ Coldest night
-7°F Jan 21, 1985

About 33°F colder than a normal January night in Hickory (typical low near 26°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -7°F Jan 21, 1985
2 -6°F Jan 17, 1977
3 -3°F Jan 31, 1981
🌧️ Most rain in one day
8.34 in Aug 4, 2016

More rain in a single day than Hickory usually gets in the whole month of August (typical August total about 4.9 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 8.34 in Aug 4, 2016
2 7.68 in Jun 21, 1972
3 6.02 in Jun 2, 1981
Most snow in one day
11.0 in Jan 22, 1987

Close to a whole typical January's snow in one day (Hickory averages about 2 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 11.0 in Jan 22, 1987
2 10.0 in Feb 14, 2014
3 9.0 in Feb 18, 1979

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 106°F JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Hickory's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 106°F is about 20°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, Hickory's warmest days reach the high 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-20s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 106°F and as low as −7°F. A single day has delivered over 8 inches of rain or close to 11 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 Statesville 2 Nne (NOAA GHCN station USC00318292), about 42 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →