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Weather extremes

How extreme does Reading's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Reading 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 Lebanon 2 W station 45 km away. Updated through April 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 Reading has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
102°F Jul 16, 1988

That is about 18°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Reading (typical high near 84°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 102°F Jul 16, 1988
2 102°F Jul 22, 2011
3 100°F Jul 7, 1988
❄️ Coldest night
-22°F Jan 22, 1985

About 44°F colder than a normal January night in Reading (typical low near 22°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -22°F Jan 22, 1985
2 -21°F Jan 21, 1985
3 -21°F Jan 21, 1994
🌧️ Most rain in one day
8.85 in Jun 22, 1972

More rain in a single day than Reading usually gets in the whole month of June (typical June total about 4.5 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 8.85 in Jun 22, 1972
2 7.01 in Jul 22, 2013
3 5.74 in Jul 23, 2018
Most snow in one day
24.0 in Jan 23, 2016

Close to a whole typical January's snow in one day (Reading averages about 7 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 24.0 in Jan 23, 2016
2 17.0 in Feb 10, 2010
3 15.0 in Feb 19, 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.

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

Reading's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 102°F is about 18°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, Reading'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 102°F and as low as −22°F. A single day has delivered over 9 inches of rain or close to 24 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 Lebanon 2 W (NOAA GHCN station USC00364896), about 45 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →