Aurora, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Aurora's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 30.4 inches of precipitation and 27 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.7°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 773 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAurora
- Station IDUSC00250445
- Location40.86°N 98.00°W
- Elevation1,785 ft (544 m)
- Population4,715
On October 22, the normal high in Aurora is 64°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Aurora.
- Jan 36° 15°
- Feb 40° 18°
- Mar 52° 28°
- Apr 63° 38°
- May 73° 51°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 87° 65°
- Aug 85° 63°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 66° 40°
- Nov 51° 28°
- Dec 39° 19°
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 Aurora each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.11 in), the least in January (0.69 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 15°F | 25.2°F | 0.69 | 7.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 18°F | 29.0°F | 0.81 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 28°F | 40.1°F | 1.58 | 4.1 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 38°F | 50.5°F | 2.97 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 51°F | 61.7°F | 5.11 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 72.3°F | 4.89 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 87°F | 65°F | 75.7°F | 2.80 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.5°F | 2.48 | 0.1 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 40°F | 53.1°F | 2.66 | 1.2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 28°F | 39.6°F | 1.49 | 2.9 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 19°F | 28.6°F | 1.13 | 3.8 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 40°F | 51.3°F | 30.45 | 27.3 | 86 | 28 | 143 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 18 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 21 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 11°C | −2°C | 4.5°C | 40 mm | 10 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 10.3°C | 75 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.5°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 63 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 68 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.2°C | 38 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 4°C | −7°C | −1.9°C | 29 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250445; 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 Aurora?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00250445.
When is the last frost in Aurora?
In Aurora, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 21 in half of years and after May 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 15 in half of years and before October 1 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 211 year in 10 after May 4; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 151 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 176 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Aurora in zone 5b in ZIP code 68818, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00250445; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Aurora?
In a normal year in Aurora, 28 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 143 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 143a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1901) is 116°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −31°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1968, with 36.90 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 57.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00250445; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00250445. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Aurora?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Aurora, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and March the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.3 |
| February | 74% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 78% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 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 Aurora need?
A normal year in Aurora brings 6,010 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,037 cooling degree days, 14% 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 3,417 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,235 | 0 |
| February | 1,008 | 0 |
| March | 772 | 0 |
| April | 443 | 8 |
| May | 165 | 64 |
| June | 18 | 237 |
| July | 1 | 333 |
| August | 6 | 274 |
| September | 92 | 109 |
| October | 381 | 12 |
| November | 761 | 0 |
| December | 1,128 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,010 | 1,037 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00250445. 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 Aurora's climate compare?
Aurora is warmer than 110 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 104. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.3°F is warmer than 46%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Aurora 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 Aurora share this climate record?
4 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.
- Henderson, NE1,089 people · 11 mi SE
- Hampton, NE441 people · 6 mi E
- Giltner, NE417 people · 10 mi SW
- Stockham, NE34 people · 10 mi S
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 Aurora's climate
What is the coldest month in Aurora?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Aurora?
Yes: 27 inches in a normal year, falling on 14 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Aurora?
May, with 5.11 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.69 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Aurora in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Aurora in zone 5b in ZIP code 68818, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Aurora?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 21; in one year in ten it comes after May 4. Waiting until May 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Grand Island, NE18 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Central City, NE18 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- York, NE21 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Clay Center, NE24 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made