Battle Creek, IA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Battle Creek's primary NOAA station, BATTLE CREEK 3NE.
The climate verdict for Battle Creek
Winter sets the terms in Battle Creek, Iowa. A pronounced 55.5°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 47°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 47°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 32.1"
- yearly precipitation total
- 153 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Battle Creek: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00130512 · Battle Creek, IA 47°F mean · 32.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,852
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ LE Mars
- PRCP-MID 32.1"
- SWING-WIDE 56°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,304 HDD
- STN-1 USC00130512
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: LE Mars, IA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every IA station list.
- Battle Creek (this station) 47°F
- Cold Dakota City, IA 47°F
- Hot Pierre, SD 47°F
- Near LE Mars, IA 47°F
- Near Powderville, MT 47°F
Climate Living Index · Battle Creek
Battle Creek: 42/100 · grade D
Battle Creek publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Battle Creek, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 32.1 in · 2.9 from 35 in | 89/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 168 calendar days | 34/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 153 days/year | 28/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.9°F · 20.6° from 67.5°F | 27/100 · F |
Battle Creek · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Battle Creek is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 17.6°F and warmest-month mean 73.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 73.1°F
- Coldest month
- 17.6°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Battle Creek sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Battle Creek's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 73%
- Among 6,861 stations, Battle Creek sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 43rd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 93%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Battle Creek is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Battle Creek compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Battle Creek's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.7" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.9" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.8" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 60°F (15°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.4" | 15.0 | 0.2 |
| May | 71°F (22°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 4.4" | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 8.1 |
| August | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 4.2" | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| September | 76°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 3.2" | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 2.4" | 13.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.5" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 33°F (0°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.1" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 21, short of 90°F on every date, while 168 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 15.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 8, then returns to freezing around October 24, covering 168 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
The widest day
October 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Battle Creek.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Battle Creek runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Battle Creek's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 4.8", on a wide 55.5°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, August, taking 42% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.7".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
153 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,304
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
755
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Battle Creek on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (47°F here).
- Bath, NY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bayard, WV 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bellevue, ID 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Canton, PA 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (32.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Suring, WI 32.1" · 0.0" off
- Henrietta, TX 32.0" · 0.0" off
- Two Rivers, WI 32.0" · 0.0" off
- Helena, OK 32.1" · 0.1" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Battle Creek's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Battle Creek logs 7,304 heating degree days, more than twice its 755 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.5°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Battle Creek's frost-free season lasts about 153 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Battle Creek's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 55.5°F between them. The annual average is 47°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Battle Creek's 32.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Battle Creek's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Battle Creek, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Battle Creek's climate
How much rain does Battle Creek get? ▼
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Battle Creek's primary station: BATTLE CREEK 3NE (USC00130512). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 1904870). Match rule for Battle Creek: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Battle Creek comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.