What Are the Warmest Cities in Kentucky?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The three warmest cities in Kentucky are Glasgow, Madisonville, and Bowling Green.
In this article I’m going to share with you my ranking of the warmest places in Kentucky.
I created my list by researching data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate data providers.
Below I’m listing the top 10 warmest places in Kentucky that have the highest average yearly temperatures. Later in the article I share a table with 30 most populous cities in Kentucky.
Top 10 Warmest Cities in Kentucky
Here are the top 10 warmest places in Kentucky ranked by their daily mean temperature. Kentucky has a relatively similar climate throughout the state so the differences between these cities are small.
1. Glasgow – daily mean temperature of 59.5 °F
Glasgow, a city of 15,000 people located in the southern part of the state, is the warmest city in Kentucky. While it has the same daily mean temperature as Madisonville that’s second in this ranking, Glasgow enjoys warmer average high temperatures. Outside of winter, it has lower nighttime temperatures than Madisonville. Since daytime temperatures are for most people more important than nighttime temperatures, Glasgow ranks first. It offers the best weather in the state because cooler nights are more desirable in the hotter months. Summer in Glasgow comes with average highs of 87-90 °F and lows of 64-68 °F. Winters reach 47-50 °F during the day and 29-32 °F at night.
2. Madisonville – daily mean temperature of 59.5 °F
The second warmest city in Kentucky is Madisonville, a city of about 20,000 residents located in southwestern Kentucky. The average high temperature in the hottest month (July) reaches 89 °F, with summers ranging from 86 to 89 °F. The average low temperature in the summer is between 67-70 °F. In the winter, Madisonville sees average highs of 45-50 °F and lows of 28-32 °F.
3. Bowling Green – daily mean temperature of 59.1 °F
Bowling Green is the warmest bigger city on this list, though its climate is only slightly warmer than the climate of the largest city of Kentucky that ranks sixth. A few other cities also have virtually the same daily mean temperature. Bowling Green has a climate similar to Madisonville, though its warmer winter days resemble those of Glasgow more than those of Madisonville.
4. Owensboro – daily mean temperature of 59.1 °F
The city of Owensboro, located on the Ohio River on the border with Indiana, has the same annual daily mean temperature as Bowling Green. It gets hotter summers, though, with average highs reaching up to 92 °F compared to 90 °F in Bowling Green. Owensboro gets only 3-4 days of snow compared to 6-7 in Bowling Green.
5. Murray – daily mean temperature of 59 °F
The college town of Murray has cooler winter days and warmer nights than the previous cities in this ranking. Overall, its climate is most similar to Bowling Green.
6. Louisville – daily mean temperature of 58.9 °F
The largest city of Kentucky, Louisville, is the sixth warmest city in the state. Despite having a very similar average temperature to Bowling Green, Louisville has colder winter days. While the average high temperature in Bowling Green gets to 46-51 °F, in Louisville that’s 44-48 °F. Summer days and nights throughout the year are similar, though. Louisville gets 2,514 sunshine hours a year and 12 days of snowfall, with 13.4 inches of snow a year.
7. Paducah – daily mean temperature of 58.75 °F
Paducah is a city of 27,000 people, located 47 miles northwest of Murray. It has virtually the same climate as Murray.
8. Hopkinsville – daily mean temperature of 58.3 °F
Hopkinsville lies 61 miles west of Bowling Green. It has 31,000 inhabitants. Summer days in Hopkinsville are two degrees cooler than in Bowling Green. The city still has muggy days, though, because nighttime temperatures are higher than in the latter city.
9. Somerset – daily mean temperature of 58.3 °F
Somerset is a city of 12,000 people that’s located 79 miles south of Lexington, close to Cumberland River. Somerset has similar winter weather to Murray. It has the coolest summers in this ranking, though, with average temperatures between June and August around 84-86 °F during the day and 65-69 °F at night.
10. Berea – daily mean temperature of 58 °F
Berea, a college town 40 miles south of Lexington with a population of 15,000 people, is the tenth warmest city in Kentucky. Like Somerset and Murray, its winter highs are 45-50 °F, with lows of 28-31 °F. It summers reach on average 85-87 °F during the day and 64-67 °F at night.
30 Biggest Cities in Kentucky Ranked by Daily Mean Temperature
I created the table below by researching data for the most populous municipalities in Kentucky. When I couldn’t find data for a given city, I moved on to another. While the list includes 30 cities, some of the bigger cities may be missing because there was no data for them. Please check the closest geographically city then.
| City | Average high temperature (°F) | Average low temperature (°F) | Daily mean temperature (°F) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow | 70.9 | 48.1 | 59.5 |
| Madisonville | 69.3 | 49.7 | 59.5 |
| Bowling Green | 69.7 | 48.5 | 59.1 |
| Owensboro | 70.9 | 47.3 | 59.1 |
| Murray | 69 | 49 | 59 |
| Louisville | 68.2 | 49.6 | 58.9 |
| Paducah | 69.3 | 48.2 | 58.75 |
| Hopkinsville | 67.9 | 48.7 | 58.3 |
| Somerset | 67.9 | 48.7 | 58.3 |
| Berea | 68 | 48 | 58 |
| Russellville | 67.6 | 46.4 | 57 |
| London | 67.5 | 46.2 | 56.85 |
| Bardstown | 67 | 46.6 | 56.8 |
| Henderson | 67.1 | 46.1 | 56.6 |
| Frankfort | 67.2 | 45.8 | 56.5 |
| Pikeville | 69 | 44 | 56.5 |
| Lexington | 66.3 | 46.3 | 56.3 |
| Corbin | 66.8 | 45 | 55.9 |
| Middlesboro | 68 | 43.6 | 55.8 |
| Georgetown | 65 | 46 | 55.5 |
| Elizabethtown | 66 | 45 | 55.5 |
| Versailles | 64.6 | 45.7 | 55.15 |
| Danville | 65 | 45 | 55 |
| Harrodsburg | 65 | 45 | 55 |
| Flatwoods | 66.6 | 43.4 | 55 |
| Maysville | 65.8 | 43.6 | 54.7 |
| Covington | 64.4 | 44.9 | 54.65 |
| Morehead | 66.7 | 42.6 | 54.65 |
| Leitchfield | 65.9 | 41.7 | 53.8 |
| Ashland | 64.5 | 43 | 53.75 |
Check the Warmest Cities in Neighboring States
If you’re interested in learning about the warmest cities in states neighboring Kentucky, check out the following articles:
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Illinois?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Indiana?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Missouri?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Ohio?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Tennessee?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Virginia?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in West Virginia?
Also check my article on the warmest cities in the US in every state.
Frequently Asked Questions
The hottest city in Kentucky is Glasgow. It has an annual daily mean temperature of 59.5 °F. Its average high temperature during the winter is 47-50 °F, with lows going down to 29-32 °F. In the summer, the city gets average high temperatures of 87-90 °F and lows of 64-68 °F.
Kentucky is not warm all year round. The warmest places in Kentucky see average high temperatures of 46-49 °F and average low temperatures below freezing, at 28-32 °F. Snow may fall between December and February.
Kentucky has relatively warm winters. In the warmest parts of the state, average highs reach 45-50 °F, while lows hover around 28-32 °F. In the coldest parts, average highs reach 40-45 °F, while lows drop to 23-27 °F.
Southern and Southwestern Kentucky gets the least snow. For example, in Bowling Green, there are only about 6-7 days of snow a year, with an average snowfall of 9.1 inches. In Owensboro, that’s only 3-4 days and 8.8 inches. In Hopkinsville, it’s 4 days of snow and only 5.2 inches. The northern part of the state gets up to 2-3 times more snow compared to the south.