Climate averages 1991–2020
Knoxville weather
by month.
See how the year changes. July has the highest average daily maximum; October has the lowest average monthly rainfall.
Pleasant-weather months by our simple rule: October
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
Across the year Knoxville averages a daytime high of 19.8°C and a nighttime low of 9.9°C, with about 1,222 mm of rain on roughly 131 days. July is the warmest month (average high 29.8°C) and January the coolest (8.3°C). March is the wettest month with 123 mm; October is the driest with 74 mm.
Months with pleasant weather by a simple rule (average high between 18°C and 29°C, average low of at least 5°C and at most 8 rain days): October. This looks at temperature and rain only, not humidity, wind, sea temperature or crowds.
The annual picture
A year in Knoxville
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Knoxville climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.3°C-0.6°C | -0.6°C | 111 | 10.7 | 10.010 h |
| February | 10.6°C0.8°C | 0.8°C | 110 | 10.9 | 10.911 h |
| March | 15.0°C4.2°C | 4.2°C | 123 | 12.2 | 11.912 h |
| April | 20.0°C8.8°C | 8.8°C | 109 | 10.9 | 13.113 h |
| May | 24.1°C13.8°C | 13.8°C | 94 | 11.7 | 14.014 h |
| June | 28.3°C18.3°C | 18.3°C | 93 | 13.2 | 14.615 h |
| July | 29.8°C20.5°C | 20.5°C | 119 | 14.8 | 14.314 h |
| August | 29.4°C19.9°C | 19.9°C | 86 | 11.4 | 13.514 h |
| September | 26.7°C16.8°C | 16.8°C | 90 | 8.3 | 12.412 h |
| October | 20.9°C10.5°C | 10.5°C | 74 | 7.7 | 11.311 h |
| November | 14.6°C4.5°C | 4.5°C | 96 | 8.9 | 10.310 h |
| December | 9.9°C1.2°C | 1.2°C | 117 | 10.6 | 9.810 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
Nearby cities
- AshevilleUnited States · 130 kmHigh 18.0°C · Low 7.9°C · 1,116 mm rain a year
- East ChattanoogaUnited States · 156 kmHigh 20.7°C · Low 11.0°C · 1,287 mm rain a year
- ChattanoogaUnited States · 162 kmHigh 20.9°C · Low 11.2°C · 1,287 mm rain a year
- Johns CreekUnited States · 216 kmHigh 21.3°C · Low 11.8°C · 1,246 mm rain a year
- RoswellUnited States · 219 kmHigh 21.0°C · Low 11.5°C · 1,246 mm rain a year
- MurfreesboroUnited States · 223 kmHigh 20.5°C · Low 11.1°C · 1,318 mm rain a year
- Athens, United StatesUnited States · 228 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 12.1°C · 1,210 mm rain a year
- Sandy SpringsUnited States · 230 kmHigh 21.1°C · Low 11.6°C · 1,235 mm rain a year
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsWhat do the high and low temperatures mean?
We average the daily maximum and daily minimum for each calendar month over 1991–2020. They are not record extremes, a forecast range or temperatures at a fixed time of day.
How is a rain day counted?
A local calendar day (standard time, UTC-5, no daylight saving) with at least 1 mm of total precipitation counts as one rain day. We count these for each year and month, then average across 30 years. The average does not predict which days will be wet.
Where do the numbers come from?
ERA5-Land (temperature) and ERA5 (precipitation) reanalysis from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, read from the Open-Meteo open-data archive. Temperature comes from the 0.1° model cell at 36.00°, -83.90° (5 km from the city centre), adjusted up by 0.2°C for the difference between the city's elevation (277 m) and the cell's (314 m). Rain comes from the 0.25° cell at 36.00°, -84.00°. These are model estimates, not weather-station readings; coast, hills and city streets can differ.
Does this page show sunshine, humidity or sea temperature?
No. The data used here contain air temperature and precipitation only. Daylight hours are calculated from the city's latitude (sunrise to sunset), not measured sunshine.