Every Tennessee county just had a top 5 warmest year

Temperatures across Tennessee ranged from subzero to over 100 degrees last year, and the average ended up hot. 

Every county in the state experienced a top five warmest year on record. 

Last year, 34 of Tennessee’s 95 counties had their warmest year on record, and another 34 counties had their second warmest year on record, according to data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration going back to 1895.

Courtesy Tennessee Climate Office

All Tennessee counties experienced a top 5 warmest year on record in 2024, according to the Tennessee Climate Office.

Last year started cold with an Arctic blast, not unlike what Tennessee just experienced this year. January was the only month that was cooler than the average set between 1901 and 2000. 

In Nashville, January 2024 ended up in the bottom third of the city’s 150-year record. (January 2025 ended up even colder, as the 40th coldest month on record in Nashville, according to National Weather Service data. The city’s average temperature was 35.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest January since 2014.) 

But the state warmed up fast. February, and later November, were both at least 6 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average across the state. Nashville experienced its 7th-warmest February. 

The state had near-average precipitation last year, with drought and heavy rainfall in between. Most notably, nearly half of the state was in “extreme” drought at the beginning of the year. In the fall, East Tennessee experienced extreme rainfall following two back-to-back storms, including remnants of Hurricane Helene. That led to record river and dam levels.