Hirono has a humid continental climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall.

The area of present-day Hirono was part of Mutsu Province, and was included in the holdings of Iwakitaira Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan.

After the Meiji restoration, on April 1, 1889, the village of Hirono was created within Naraha District, Fukushima with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

The town hall reopened on March 1, 2012 in preparation for the return of residents and the radioactive decontamination of schools; however, a ban on agriculture remained in place.

Although damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Tepco managed to return the power station to operation four months later.