What Are the Warmest Cities in Rhode Island?

In this article I’m going to share with you my ranking of the warmest places in Rhode Island.

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 Rhode Island that have the highest average yearly temperatures. Later in the article I share a table with more detailed data for these cities.

Top 10 Warmest Cities in Rhode Island

Here are the top 10 warmest places in Rhode Island ranked by their daily mean temperature. Because Rhode Island is the smallest state in size, its climate is similar in most cities. Still, despite the small distances, there are some differences between the various parts of the state. The average annual temperature may differ by up to 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the top five cities I also give average winter and summer temperatures.

1. Tiverton – daily mean temperature of 52.85 °F

The warmest city in Rhode Island is Tiverton, a city of 16,000 residents, located on the Mount Hope Bay on the border with Massachusetts. In the winter, the average high temperature is 39-43 °F while the average daily minimum temperature is 24-30 °F. In the summer, the average temperature during the day reaches 79-85 °F while the average low temperature drops to 58-65 °F. The average annual snowfall is 38.1 inches, with 18 snowy days a year.

Winter temperatures: highs of 39-43 °F, lows of 24-30 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 79-85 °F, lows of 58-65 °F

2. Westerly – daily mean temperature of 52.5 °F

Westerly is a city located in southwestern Rhode Island, on the border with Connecticut and close to the small maritime border with New York. While Westerly’s average annual temperature is only 0.35 °F lower than in Tiverton, it has much cooler summers with temperatures reaching 75-82 °F. The city has higher daytime temperatures in December and January, though, so overall it has a little more moderate climate.

Winter temperatures: highs of 40-45 °F, lows of 25-30 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 75-82 °F, lows of 59-66 °F

3. Providence – daily mean temperature of 52.1 °F

Providence, the largest city in Rhode Island and the third largest in New England, is the third warmest city in Rhode Island. Providence sees slightly cooler year round temperatures than Tiverton, with summers reaching 78-84 °F. It enjoys 2,605 sunshine hours a year with the sun shining at least 50% of the time even during the winter. Sunny days are thus quite prevalent, further moderating the cold weather.

Winter temperatures: highs of 38-43 °F, lows of 22-28 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 78-84 °F, lows of 59-65 °F

4. Newport – daily mean temperature of 51.6 °F

Newport is a city of 26,000 residents, situated on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. The city has similar mild winters to Providence. It has the coolest summer days in this ranking, with daytime temperatures reaching only 72-78 °F. If you’re looking for a mild year round climate in Rhode Island, Newport may be your best option as it also has some of the lowest snowfall in the state.

Winter temperatures: highs of 39-44 °F, lows of 24-31 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 72-78 °F, lows of 58-64 °F

5. Bristol – daily mean temperature of 51.5 °F

Bristol is a city of 23,000 people, located between Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay. Its annual mean temperature is over 1 degree lower than in Tiverton. While winter days get similar temperatures, the temperatures in average summer months differ by up to 2 degrees.

Winter temperatures: highs of 38-43 °F, lows of 21-27 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 77-83 °F, lows of 58-64 °F

6. Woonsocket – daily mean temperature of 51.1 °F

Woonsocket lies 15 miles northwest of Providence, on the border with Massachusetts. With over 43,000 inhabitants, it’s the sixth largest city in the state. Because its climate is influenced both by the large bodies of water nearby as well as the interior, it has a high variation between maximum temperature (38-43 °F) and minimum temperature (19-24 °F). The city also gets much more snowfall, at 41.5 inches a year.

7. Narragansett – daily mean temperature of 51 °F

Narragansett is a city of 15,000 people that doubles its population during the summer. Its location on the Atlantic coast gives it a climate similar to Westerly about 26 miles southwest, though Narragansett has winter daytime temperatures lower by about one degree.

8. Coventry – daily mean temperature of 50.5 °F

Coventry, a city of about 36,000 people, is situated 16 miles southwest of Providence. Coventry has one of the largest differences between winter temperatures and summer temperatures in this ranking. It has some of the coldest winters but also some of the hottest summers with maximum temperatures up to 85 °F.

9. Burrillville – daily mean temperature of 49 °F

Burrillville is a city of 16,000 people, situated in the northwestern corner of the state. It has much colder winters than the previous cities, with highs of 35-39 °F and lows of 16-22 °F. Like Woonsocket, it gets more snow than other cities, though its average of 37.4 inches is lower than in Woonsocket.

10. Foster – daily mean temperature of 48.6 °F

The mean annual temperature of the tenth warmest city in Rhode Island is over 4 degrees lower than in the warmest city of the state. Such a difference can be quite noticeable. In the case of Foster, a town of 5,000 people located 20 miles west of Providence on the border with Connecticut, it’s particularly visible at night. Winter lows in Tiverton reach 24-30 °F. Meanwhile, the average minimum temperature in Foster drops to much colder 17-23 °F. Summer nights are also cooler by up to 5 degrees.

Video Summary of the Warmest Rhode Island Cities

10 Biggest Cities in Rhode Island Ranked by Daily Mean Temperature

I created the table below by researching National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data for the most populous municipalities in Rhode Island. When I couldn’t find weather data for a given city, I moved on to another. While the list includes 10 cities, some of the bigger cities may be missing because there was no data for them. Please check the closest geographically city then.

Check the Warmest Cities in Neighboring States

If you’re interested in learning about the warmest cities in states neighboring Rhode Island, check out the following articles:

• What Are the Warmest Cities in Connecticut?
• What Are the Warmest Cities in Massachusetts?
• What Are the Warmest Cities in New York?

Also check my article on the warmest cities in the US in every state.