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Lancaster has a humid subtropical climate.
Hot, humid summers. Cool-to-cold winters. Rain in every month of the year — here's what that means in plain terms.
What this climate feels like
The four things a regular visitor actually wants to know:
Highs near 36°C in August. About 103 days a year above 32 °C.
Lows near 3°C in January. About 27 freezing nights a year.
About 957 mm of rain a year. Wettest in October.
A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.
What "humid subtropical" means
Climate scientists sort every place on Earth into about 30 climate types, based on how hot, cold, wet and dry it is across the year. Lancaster's type — humid subtropical — sits in the broad family of mild, temperate climates. Despite the name, it does not mean tropical or frost-free: Lancaster still has cool-to-cold winters.
Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:
Cities with the same climate as Lancaster
A humid subtropical climate (Cfa) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.
Has Lancaster's climate type changed?
A climate type is a coarse bucket. It can hold steady for years while the weather inside it shifts — or tip into the next bucket.
What this climate means for you
Warm-season grasses and broad-leaved evergreens thrive; gardens are productive but humidity brings fungal pressure. Frost is occasional, so tender perennials often overwinter.
Spring and autumn are pleasant; summer is hot and humid; winter is mild and a fine alternative to escaping cold further north.
Hot, sticky summers and mild winters — air conditioning runs hard from late spring to early autumn. Storm season needs preparation in coastal areas.
Where these numbers come from
The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Lancaster's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Lancaster's main climate page, so the two always agree.
Long-range climate maps measure things slightly differently and can place a city in a neighbouring category. Where they differ, this page uses the measured station record as the climate today.
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Dallas Redbird AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00003971), about 14 km from the city centre.