The climate of Boston
Dfa Hot-summer humid continental. Hot summers and cold winters, with rain all year. A big seasonal swing. Summers can be hot and humid, winters are cold with snow, and there is no dry season.
Boston is north of the equator, so summer falls in June to August and winter in December to February. The 1901 to 1930 map put Boston in Dfb (warm-summer humid continental), so its zone is different from a century ago.
Boston: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | Dfb Warm-summer humid continental | Different from now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | Dfa Hot-summer humid continental | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | Cfa Humid subtropical | Different from now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | Cfa Humid subtropical | Different from now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | Cfa Humid subtropical | Different from now |
The 2071 to 2099 rows are model projections under three emissions scenarios, not forecasts. The 1901 to 1930 row is a reconstruction. All come from Beck et al. (2023).
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the model puts Boston in Cfa (humid subtropical) in 2071 to 2099, instead of Dfa now. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is Cfa (humid subtropical).
Cities with the same climate as Boston
Other big cities that are Dfa (hot-summer humid continental) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
Where Boston's future climate exists today
In the SSP2-4.5 map for 2071 to 2099, Boston is Cfa. These cities are Cfa in 1991 to 2020, so they give a rough idea of the future climate (the real conditions would differ in many ways).
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Population of Boston from GeoNames: 653,833 (rank 894 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.