Atkinson, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Atkinson's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 24.9 inches of precipitation and 33 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.5°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 633 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAtkinson (3 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00250420
- Location42.51°N 99.03°W
- Elevation2,128 ft (649 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population1,315
On October 23, the normal high in Atkinson is 58°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Atkinson.
- Jan 32° 10°
- Feb 35° 13°
- Mar 47° 23°
- Apr 58° 34°
- May 69° 46°
- Jun 80° 57°
- Jul 86° 62°
- Aug 84° 59°
- Sep 76° 50°
- Oct 61° 36°
- Nov 47° 24°
- Dec 34° 14°
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 Atkinson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.31 in), the least in January (0.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 10°F | 21.1°F | 0.40 | 5.5 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 13°F | 24.2°F | 0.70 | 6.7 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 23°F | 34.9°F | 1.26 | 5.1 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 34°F | 45.8°F | 2.65 | 4.1 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 46°F | 57.5°F | 4.31 | 0.2 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 57°F | 68.0°F | 3.66 | 0.0 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 86°F | 62°F | 73.8°F | 2.57 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 84°F | 59°F | 71.4°F | 3.09 | 0.0 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 50°F | 63.0°F | 2.64 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 2.37 | 1.5 | 6 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 24°F | 35.3°F | 0.71 | 4.0 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 14°F | 24.1°F | 0.56 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 36°F | 47.3°F | 24.92 | 33.3 | 81 | 31 | 152 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −12°C | −6.1°C | 10 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.3°C | 18 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 32 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 67 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.2°C | 109 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.0°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 15°C | 21.9°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 60 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 8°C | −5°C | 1.8°C | 18 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 1°C | −10°C | −4.4°C | 14 mm | 16 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250420; 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 Atkinson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August 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 USC00250420.
When is the last frost in Atkinson?
In Atkinson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 22 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 41 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 152 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 170 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Atkinson in zone 5a in ZIP code 68713, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Atkinson's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (21 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 USC00250420; 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 Atkinson?
In a normal year in Atkinson, 31 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 152 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 31a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 152a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 46high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1906) is 112°F, on July 24, 1940; the lowest is −35°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 38.91 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 102.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00250420; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00250420. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Atkinson?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Atkinson, 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 Atkinson need?
A normal year in Atkinson brings 7,164 heating degree days, 33% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 755 cooling degree days, 17% fewer 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 2,827 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,361 | 0 |
| February | 1,142 | 0 |
| March | 935 | 0 |
| April | 579 | 3 |
| May | 264 | 31 |
| June | 49 | 140 |
| July | 7 | 281 |
| August | 18 | 217 |
| September | 139 | 79 |
| October | 512 | 5 |
| November | 891 | 0 |
| December | 1,269 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,164 | 755 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250420. 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 Atkinson been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 49.3°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.3°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.6°F | +2.3°F | 22.19 | 30.0 |
| 2023 | 48.1°F | +0.8°F | 31.55 | 59.4 |
| 2024 | 49.3°F | +2.0°F | 24.07 | 29.4 |
Over 59 complete years from 1910 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.7°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00250420; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Atkinson's climate compare?
Atkinson is warmer than 9 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 49. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.3°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Atkinson is Dwa: continental, dry-winter, 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 Atkinson share this climate record?
Stuart has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Stuart, NE505 people · 8 mi NW
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 Atkinson's climate
What is the coldest month in Atkinson?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Atkinson?
Yes: 33 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Atkinson?
May, with 4.31 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Atkinson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Atkinson in zone 5a in ZIP code 68713, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Atkinson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Atkinson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Newport, NE17 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- O'Neill, NE19 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Swan Lake, NE23 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Chambers, NE26 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made