Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, sits on the Cumberland River in a basin of central Tennessee, ringed by low hills at approximately 36.16°N, 86.78°W. It has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — with hot, humid summers and mild winters — and it lies in a corridor prone to severe storms.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and humid, with July the warmest month — average highs around 32°C — and heatwaves that can exceed 36°C, made stifling by Gulf humidity trapped in the basin. It is a wet season, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, though spring brings the heaviest and most severe storms.

Winter, from December to February, is mild and short, with January the coolest month — average highs around 8°C and lows near -3°C. Snow is light, around 15 cm a year, but ice storms are a recurring hazard, and the season swings sharply between mild Gulf air and cold Canadian outbreaks.

Nashville is wet, receiving around 1,200–1,250 mm of precipitation a year, spread through every month with a clear spring maximum — the Cumberland can flood catastrophically, as in May 2010 when a record deluge inundated the city. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Nashville lies in Dixie Alley, the southern tornado corridor, where severe thunderstorms strike most often in spring and late autumn — and unlike the plains, storms here often arrive at night and are hidden by trees and terrain, making them especially dangerous. The 2010 flood remains its costliest disaster.

To follow any single measurement in Nashville more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.