Atchison, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Atchison's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 36.4 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 31°C, 924 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAtchison
- Station IDUSC00140405
- Location39.58°N 95.11°W
- Elevation945 ft (288 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population10,813
On October 22, the normal high in Atchison is 64°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Atchison.
- Jan 36° 18°
- Feb 42° 23°
- Mar 54° 32°
- Apr 65° 43°
- May 74° 55°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 88° 69°
- Aug 86° 67°
- Sep 79° 58°
- Oct 67° 46°
- Nov 52° 33°
- Dec 40° 23°
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 Atchison each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.32 in), the least in January (0.93 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 18°F | 27.3°F | 0.93 | 5.0 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 23°F | 32.2°F | 1.20 | 4.8 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 32°F | 43.2°F | 1.92 | 1.8 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 43°F | 54.0°F | 3.42 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 55°F | 64.9°F | 5.32 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.4°F | 4.87 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 88°F | 69°F | 78.4°F | 5.17 | 0.0 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 67°F | 76.5°F | 3.75 | 0.0 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 58°F | 68.5°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 46°F | 56.4°F | 3.10 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 33°F | 42.6°F | 1.81 | 0.9 | 5 | <1 | 13 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 23°F | 31.8°F | 1.41 | 3.8 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 45°F | 54.2°F | 36.38 | 17.0 | 89 | 38 | 107 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 24 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 30 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 12°C | 0°C | 6.2°C | 49 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 18°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 87 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.3°C | 135 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 25.8°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 15°C | 20.3°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 8°C | 13.6°C | 79 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 11°C | 1°C | 5.9°C | 46 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 5°C | −5°C | −0.1°C | 36 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00140405; 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 Atchison?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00140405.
When is the last frost in Atchison?
In Atchison, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 11 in half of years and after April 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 15 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
- April 111 year in 10 after April 23; 9 in 10 after March 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 15; 9 in 10 before November 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 199 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 218 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Atchison in zone 6a in ZIP code 66002, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Atchison's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (18 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00140405; 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 Atchison?
In a normal year in Atchison, 38 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 107 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 89 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 107a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 27high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 89a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 111°F, on August 10, 1934; the lowest is −28°F, on January 22, 1930.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 59.75 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 51.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00140405; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00140405. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Atchison?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Atchison, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and March the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.2 |
| February | 72% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 77% | 3.5 |
| November | 76% | 2.5 |
| December | 72% | 1.9 |
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 Atchison need?
A normal year in Atchison brings 5,266 heating degree days, 2% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,360 cooling degree days, 50% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,006 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,168 | 0 |
| February | 918 | 0 |
| March | 678 | 2 |
| April | 346 | 14 |
| May | 101 | 98 |
| June | 6 | 289 |
| July | 0 | 417 |
| August | 2 | 357 |
| September | 51 | 156 |
| October | 293 | 26 |
| November | 672 | 1 |
| December | 1,031 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,266 | 1,360 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00140405. 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.
How does Atchison's climate compare?
Atchison is warmer than 48 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 93. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.2°F is warmer than 58%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Atchison 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 Atchison share this climate record?
7 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.
- Agency, MO653 people · 20 mi E
- Lancaster, KS244 people · 10 mi W
- De Kalb, MO239 people · 10 mi E
- Rushville, MO218 people · 5 mi E
- Faucett, MO118 people · 17 mi E
- Lewis and Clark Village, MO92 people · 4 mi SE
- Iatan, MO43 people · 9 mi SE
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 Atchison's climate
What is the coldest month in Atchison?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Atchison?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Atchison?
May, with 5.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.93 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Atchison in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Atchison in zone 6a in ZIP code 66002, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Atchison's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Atchison?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 11; in one year in ten it comes after April 23. Waiting until April 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- St. Joseph, MO17 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Troy, KS17 miles from this station, 53.1°F a year
- Leavenworth, KS20 miles from this station, 55.8°F a year
- Horton, KS23 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made