Ainsworth, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ainsworth's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 23.8 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 31°C, 605 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAinsworth
- Station IDUSC00250050
- Location42.55°N 99.86°W
- Elevation2,510 ft (765 m)
- Population1,605
On October 23, the normal high in Ainsworth is 61°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ainsworth.
- Jan 37° 15°
- Feb 40° 18°
- Mar 51° 26°
- Apr 61° 36°
- May 71° 47°
- Jun 81° 57°
- Jul 88° 63°
- Aug 86° 61°
- Sep 78° 52°
- Oct 64° 39°
- Nov 50° 27°
- Dec 38° 18°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Ainsworth each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.80 in), the least in January (0.42 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 15°F | 26.0°F | 0.42 | 4.2 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 40°F | 18°F | 28.9°F | 0.63 | 7.3 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 51°F | 26°F | 38.9°F | 1.20 | 6.0 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 36°F | 48.4°F | 2.64 | 6.6 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 47°F | 59.1°F | 3.80 | 0.3 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 57°F | 69.3°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 88°F | 63°F | 75.3°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 86°F | 61°F | 73.2°F | 2.81 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 78°F | 52°F | 65.3°F | 2.56 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 39°F | 51.7°F | 1.73 | 1.8 | 7 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 27°F | 38.3°F | 0.63 | 4.1 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 38°F | 18°F | 28.1°F | 0.57 | 5.5 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 38°F | 50.2°F | 23.81 | 35.8 | 94 | 28 | 144 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −9°C | −3.3°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 5°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.8°C | 30 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 16°C | 2°C | 9.1°C | 67 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 22°C | 8°C | 15.1°C | 97 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 17°C | 24.1°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 16°C | 22.9°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.5°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 10.9°C | 44 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 10°C | −3°C | 3.5°C | 16 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 14 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250050; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Ainsworth?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250050.
When is the last frost in Ainsworth?
In Ainsworth, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 25 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- May 21 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 158 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 22 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ainsworth in zone 5b in ZIP code 69210, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ainsworth's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00250050; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Ainsworth?
In a normal year in Ainsworth, 28 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 144 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 94 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 144a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 94a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 113°F, on July 20, 1934; the lowest is −33°F, on February 2, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1915, with 45.48 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 83.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00250050; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00250050. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ainsworth?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ainsworth, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.1 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 81% | 6.8 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.3 |
| November | 76% | 2.3 |
| December | 74% | 1.8 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Ainsworth need?
A normal year in Ainsworth brings 6,275 heating degree days, 17% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 923 cooling degree days, 2% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,181 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,207 | 0 |
| February | 1,012 | 0 |
| March | 810 | 0 |
| April | 504 | 4 |
| May | 225 | 42 |
| June | 37 | 166 |
| July | 4 | 325 |
| August | 10 | 266 |
| September | 101 | 108 |
| October | 422 | 11 |
| November | 801 | 0 |
| December | 1,142 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,275 | 923 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250050. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Ainsworth been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.4°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.2°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 48.9°F | −1.3°F | 12.81 | 16.5 |
| 2023 | 49.6°F | −0.6°F | 27.45 | – |
| 2024 | 50.9°F | +0.7°F | 21.91 | – |
| 2025 | 50.4°F | +0.2°F | 31.44 | – |
Over 93 complete years from 1909 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00250050; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ainsworth's climate compare?
Ainsworth is warmer than 79 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 40. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.2°F is warmer than 41%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ainsworth is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Ainsworth share this climate record?
3 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Long Pine, NE300 people · 8 mi E
- Wood Lake, NE50 people · 20 mi W
- Johnstown, NE45 people · 10 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Ainsworth's climate
What is the coldest month in Ainsworth?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Ainsworth?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 18 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Ainsworth?
May, with 3.80 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ainsworth in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ainsworth in zone 5b in ZIP code 69210, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Ainsworth's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Ainsworth?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Springview, NE21 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Newport, NE27 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Elsmere (9 mi ENE), NE27 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Purdum, NE39 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made