BRADFORD, PA

Overview:
Bradford is located in McKean County, which is close to the northern border of Pennsylvania. The city is in a valley in the Allegheny Mountains and is surrounded by forest and steep hills. Due to the elevation of the city, some of the coldest temperatures in Pennsylvania are often observed at the Bradford Airport. However, the city itself is usually a few degrees warmer than the airport.

Winters in Bradford are long and snowy while summers are warm and humid. The area experiences heavy snow due to lake effect precipitation from Lakes Erie and Ontario. Lake effect snowfall is especially prevalent in the late fall and early winter, with isolated events in the early spring due to cold periods.

State/ Province ID: PA

Station ID: C00360868

Directory Name: BRADFORD_4SW_RES_5__PA_C00360868

Elevation: 506.00m

The resources presented here were developed in cooperation with the Office of the Michigan State Climatologist using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information. For more information regarding our data sources, quality control, and methodology, please see our Historical Climatologies: Quality Control reference guide.

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Recent Climate Summary, 1991-2020


Average Temperature	45.3°F7.4°C
Average Low Temperature	34.4°F1.3°C
Average High Temperature	56.2°13.5°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F	0.5
Days/Year that fall below 32°F	159.6
Lowest Annual Average Temperature	43.1°F6.2°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature	47.7°F8.7°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation	49.6 in125.9 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total	38.1 in96.8 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total	59.9 in152.2 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation	4.9

Temperature

Click on the following links to be taken to the corresponding portion of the page.

Monthly Average Temperature
How Temperatures are Changing
- Changes in Average Temperature – Includes a summary table of the average annual and seasonal temperature changes, and time series graphs of how the annual low, average, and high temperatures compare to the long term average plotted for every year on record.
- Cold Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year below 32°F and the number of heating degree days per year to see how cold days are changing.
- Hot Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year above 90°F and the number of cooling degree days per year to see how hot days are changing.
- Growing Season Changes – View a time series of the annual number of days in the freeze-free period.

Monthly Average Temperature

Changes in Average Temperature, 1951-2025.


	°F°C
Annual average temperature	1.60.9
Winter average temperature	0.90.5
Spring average temperature	1.20.7
Summer average temperature	2.61.5
Fall average temperature	1.30.7

Annual High and Low Temperature Departure

Cold Temperatures

¹Heating Degree Days (HDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to heat a building. HDDs accumulate on days colder than 65°F when heating is required. Every degree below 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual HDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Hot Temperatures

²Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to cool a building. CDDs accumulate on days warmer than 65°F when cooling is required. Every degree above 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual CDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Growing Season Changes

Precipitation