Maycomb, Alabama, is the fictional name for Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, which is in the southwestern part of the state. It is only about 100 miles from the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Therefore, it has mild winters and very hot summers. Here is an official report on the weather of Monroeville:
On average, there are 221 sunny days per year....The July high is around 91 degrees. The January low is 38. The comfort index, which is based on humidity during the hot months, is a 27 out of 100, where higher is more comfortable.
Since Lee's novel has scenes from the summer when the temperatures are high and the very high humidity makes the air heavy and unbearably hot, Jem and Scout sleep on the screened porch at night where it may be a little cooler (There was no air conditioning in the 1930's). In the winter, temperatures rarely drop below freezing; it rains a fair amount, but rarely snows. In Chapter 8, for instance, when one of these rare snows occurs, little Scout thinks the world is ending. She cries for her father, "The word's endin', Atticus! Please do something--!" Atticus identifies the snow for her, adding that this is the first time since 1885 (the novel is set in 1933-1935).
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