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Nantucket has an oceanic / temperate climate.
Mild and damp year-round, with no real extremes — 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 26°C in July. About 2 days a year above 32 °C.
Lows near −5°C in January. About 91 freezing nights a year.
About 1160 mm of rain a year, plus 55 cm of snow. Snow falls through the winter months.
A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.
What "oceanic / temperate" 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. Nantucket's type — oceanic / temperate — sits in the broad family of mild, temperate climates.
Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:
Cities with the same climate as Nantucket
An oceanic / temperate climate (Cfb) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.
Nantucket sits near a climate boundary
This city sits right on the line between oceanic / temperate and the next type along. Different climate maps file it on different sides of that line; the lived weather doesn't change at the line — it's a naming boundary, not a wall.
Has Nantucket's climate type changed?
Stable — Nantucket's climate has held the same type between the 1971–2000 and 1991–2020 normals. The label is steady; the climate beneath it is still warming.
What this climate means for you
Lawns and broadleaf trees thrive; heat-loving crops (tomatoes, peppers, melons) struggle without help. Famous for roses, leafy greens and apples.
Late spring through early autumn is the best window for outdoor travel. Winters are wet and grey but rarely brutally cold.
The 'comfortable' climate — no real extremes, but grey and damp through much of the year. Heating is needed in winter; AC is often unnecessary.
Where these numbers come from
The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Nantucket's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Nantucket'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 Hyannis (NOAA GHCN station USC00193821), about 46 km from the city centre.