Belle Plaine, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Belle Plaine's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 36.0 inches of precipitation and 28 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 29°C, 914 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBelle Plaine
- Station IDUSC00130600
- Location41.88°N 92.28°W
- Elevation810 ft (247 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population2,335
On October 23, the normal high in Belle Plaine is 60°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Belle Plaine.
- Jan 28° 10°
- Feb 33° 14°
- Mar 46° 26°
- Apr 60° 37°
- May 71° 49°
- Jun 80° 60°
- Jul 84° 63°
- Aug 82° 60°
- Sep 76° 51°
- Oct 63° 39°
- Nov 47° 27°
- Dec 34° 17°
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 Belle Plaine each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.23 in), the least in January (1.11 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 10°F | 19.3°F | 1.11 | 7.8 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 33°F | 14°F | 23.5°F | 1.28 | 7.4 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 46°F | 26°F | 35.9°F | 2.03 | 3.4 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 37°F | 48.6°F | 3.68 | 0.8 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 49°F | 60.1°F | 4.43 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 60°F | 70.0°F | 5.23 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 63°F | 73.3°F | 4.06 | 0.0 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 82°F | 60°F | 71.1°F | 4.08 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 51°F | 63.5°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 39°F | 51.0°F | 2.86 | 0.4 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 27°F | 37.2°F | 2.11 | 1.8 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 17°F | 25.2°F | 1.58 | 6.3 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 38°F | 48.2°F | 36.00 | 27.9 | 99 | 14 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −12°C | −7.1°C | 28 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 0°C | −10°C | −4.7°C | 33 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 8°C | −3°C | 2.2°C | 52 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 93 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 15.6°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.7°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.5°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 73 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8°C | −3°C | 2.9°C | 54 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 1°C | −8°C | −3.8°C | 40 mm | 16 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00130600; 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 Belle Plaine?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, 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 USC00130600.
When is the last frost in Belle Plaine?
In Belle Plaine, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 26 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 281 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Belle Plaine in zone 5a in ZIP code 52208, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Belle Plaine's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00130600; 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 Belle Plaine?
In a normal year in Belle Plaine, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 99 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 54high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 99a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 111°F, on August 18, 1936; the lowest is −38°F, on January 16, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 55.86 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 71.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00130600; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00130600. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Belle Plaine?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Belle Plaine, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.0 |
| February | 74% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 73% | 3.1 |
| November | 71% | 2.1 |
| December | 66% | 1.6 |
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 Belle Plaine need?
A normal year in Belle Plaine brings 6,868 heating degree days, 28% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 785 cooling degree days, 14% 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 2,989 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,418 | 0 |
| February | 1,161 | 0 |
| March | 903 | 1 |
| April | 498 | 4 |
| May | 202 | 49 |
| June | 27 | 177 |
| July | 5 | 261 |
| August | 13 | 203 |
| September | 126 | 79 |
| October | 446 | 10 |
| November | 836 | 0 |
| December | 1,234 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,868 | 785 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00130600. 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 Belle Plaine been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 50.5°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.2°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 50.5°F | +2.3°F | – | 11.0 |
Over 104 complete years from 1890 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00130600; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Belle Plaine's climate compare?
Belle Plaine is warmer than 68 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 52. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Belle Plaine 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 Belle Plaine share this climate record?
12 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.
- Brooklyn, IA1,474 people · 13 mi SW
- Victor, IA852 people · 10 mi S
- Blairstown, IA705 people · 10 mi E
- Keystone, IA616 people · 9 mi NE
- Holiday Lake, IA321 people · 10 mi SW
- Ladora, IA223 people · 10 mi SE
- Chelsea, IA207 people · 7 mi NW
- Elberon, IA178 people · 9 mi N
- Luzerne, IA111 people · 5 mi E
- Hartwick, IA91 people · 8 mi SW
- Guernsey, IA59 people · 16 mi S
- Vining, IA53 people · 10 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 Belle Plaine's climate
What is the coldest month in Belle Plaine?
January, with a normal high of 28°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Belle Plaine?
Yes: 28 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Belle Plaine?
June, with 5.23 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.11 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Belle Plaine in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Belle Plaine in zone 5a in ZIP code 52208, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Belle Plaine's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Belle Plaine?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Toledo, IA19 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Williamsburg, IA21 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Vinton, IA24 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Grinnell, IA27 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made