Bethany, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bethany's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 39.1 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.0°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 30°C, 994 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBethany
- Station IDUSC00230608
- Location40.26°N 94.03°W
- Elevation949 ft (289 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,912
On October 23, the normal high in Bethany is 62°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bethany.
- Jan 34° 16°
- Feb 39° 19°
- Mar 52° 30°
- Apr 63° 41°
- May 73° 51°
- Jun 82° 62°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 78° 55°
- Oct 65° 43°
- Nov 51° 31°
- Dec 38° 21°
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 Bethany each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.53 in), the least in January (1.00 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 16°F | 24.8°F | 1.00 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 39°F | 19°F | 29.2°F | 1.58 | 5.2 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 30°F | 40.6°F | 2.07 | 3.3 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 41°F | 51.6°F | 4.01 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 51°F | 61.9°F | 5.53 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 62°F | 71.9°F | 5.19 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.4°F | 4.96 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.5°F | 4.20 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 55°F | 66.4°F | 3.90 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 3.05 | 0.1 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 31°F | 40.7°F | 1.98 | 1.3 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 21°F | 29.7°F | 1.66 | 5.6 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 42°F | 51.8°F | 39.13 | 21.2 | 93 | 24 | 132 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −9°C | −4.0°C | 25 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.6°C | 40 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 53 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 17°C | 5°C | 10.9°C | 102 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.6°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 17°C | 22.2°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 13°C | 19.1°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 50 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 4°C | −6°C | −1.3°C | 42 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00230608; 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 Bethany?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. 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 USC00230608.
When is the last frost in Bethany?
In Bethany, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 6 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 161 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 6; 9 in 10 before November 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 186 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 208 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bethany in zone 6a in ZIP code 64424, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bethany's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00230608; 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 Bethany?
In a normal year in Bethany, 24 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 132 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 24a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 132a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 112°F, on August 9, 1934; the lowest is −33°F, on January 27, 1902.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 61.35 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 64.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00230608; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00230608. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bethany?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bethany, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and March the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.1 |
| February | 73% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.4 |
| July | 82% | 6.5 |
| August | 81% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.3 |
| November | 74% | 2.3 |
| December | 70% | 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 Bethany need?
A normal year in Bethany brings 5,848 heating degree days, 9% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,087 cooling degree days, 20% 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 3,530 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,246 | 0 |
| February | 1,002 | 0 |
| March | 758 | 2 |
| April | 408 | 8 |
| May | 157 | 62 |
| June | 14 | 223 |
| July | 1 | 353 |
| August | 4 | 298 |
| September | 81 | 122 |
| October | 353 | 18 |
| November | 728 | 1 |
| December | 1,094 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,848 | 1,087 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00230608. 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 Bethany been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 54.3°F, 2.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.8°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.6°F | +1.8°F | 34.68 | 20.3 |
| 2022 | 51.4°F | −0.4°F | 34.78 | 23.2 |
| 2023 | 54.3°F | +2.5°F | 34.94 | 13.5 |
Over 84 complete years from 1893 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00230608; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bethany's climate compare?
Bethany is warmer than 11 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.8°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bethany 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 Bethany share this climate record?
Coffey 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.
- Coffey, MO154 people · 11 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 Bethany's climate
What is the coldest month in Bethany?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Bethany?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (5.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bethany?
May, with 5.53 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.00 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bethany in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bethany in zone 6a in ZIP code 64424, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bethany's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Bethany?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Albany, MO16 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Spickard, MO16 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Gallatin, MO24 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Trenton, MO25 miles from this station, 52.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made