Bison, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bison's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 26.5 inches of precipitation and 14 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.9°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 34°C, 674 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBison (3 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00140865
- Location38.56°N 99.23°W
- Elevation2,040 ft (622 m)
- Population169
On October 23, the normal high in Bison is 67°F and the normal low 36°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 Bison.
- Jan 43° 16°
- Feb 47° 18°
- Mar 58° 28°
- Apr 67° 37°
- May 76° 49°
- Jun 88° 60°
- Jul 92° 64°
- Aug 90° 62°
- Sep 83° 54°
- Oct 70° 39°
- Nov 56° 27°
- Dec 44° 18°
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 Bison each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.18 in), the least in January (0.71 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 16°F | 29.4°F | 0.71 | 3.4 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 47°F | 18°F | 32.4°F | 0.84 | 2.4 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 58°F | 28°F | 42.5°F | 1.48 | 3.6 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 37°F | 51.7°F | 2.26 | 0.1 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 49°F | 62.4°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 88°F | 60°F | 73.6°F | 4.08 | 0.0 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 64°F | 78.2°F | 4.18 | 0.0 | 9 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 62°F | 76.3°F | 3.50 | 0.0 | 8 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 54°F | 68.2°F | 1.99 | 0.0 | 5 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 39°F | 54.6°F | 1.78 | 0.1 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 27°F | 41.3°F | 0.93 | 1.0 | 3 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 18°F | 31.1°F | 0.99 | 3.5 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 39°F | 53.5°F | 26.52 | 14.1 | 72 | 71 | 145 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −9°C | −1.4°C | 18 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 8°C | −8°C | 0.2°C | 21 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 14°C | −2°C | 5.8°C | 38 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 19°C | 3°C | 10.9°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 9°C | 16.9°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 15°C | 23.1°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 18°C | 25.7°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 17°C | 24.6°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 12°C | 20.1°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 4°C | 12.6°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −3°C | 5.2°C | 24 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 7°C | −8°C | −0.5°C | 25 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00140865; 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 Bison?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00140865.
When is the last frost in Bison?
In Bison, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 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 301 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 162 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 180 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bison in zone 6a in ZIP code 67520, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bison's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00140865; 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 Bison?
In a normal year in Bison, 71 days a year reach 90°F (17 of them 100°F or more), 145 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 72 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 71a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 145a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 72a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1923) is 116°F, on July 13, 1934; the lowest is −24°F, on February 8, 1933.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 38.57 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 46.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00140865; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00140865. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bison?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bison, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.6 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 77% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.6 |
| May | 80% | 6.5 |
| June | 86% | 7.2 |
| July | 88% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.2 |
| September | 85% | 5.1 |
| October | 81% | 3.8 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 78% | 2.3 |
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 Bison need?
A normal year in Bison brings 5,486 heating degree days, 2% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,319 cooling degree days, 45% 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 3,795 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,104 | 0 |
| February | 913 | 0 |
| March | 697 | 1 |
| April | 411 | 11 |
| May | 160 | 80 |
| June | 15 | 272 |
| July | 2 | 413 |
| August | 5 | 353 |
| September | 71 | 165 |
| October | 345 | 23 |
| November | 713 | 1 |
| December | 1,051 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,486 | 1,319 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00140865. 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 Bison's climate compare?
Bison is warmer than 33 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 46. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.5°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bison 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 Bison share this climate record?
7 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.
- La Crosse, KS1,208 people · 5 mi SW
- Otis, KS282 people · 10 mi E
- Rush Center, KS132 people · 8 mi SW
- Liebenthal, KS89 people · 8 mi NW
- Alexander, KS48 people · 18 mi W
- Galatia, KS45 people · 16 mi E
- Timken, KS34 people · 7 mi SE
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 Bison's climate
What is the coldest month in Bison?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Bison?
Yes: 14 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (3.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bison?
July, with 4.18 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.71 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bison in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bison in zone 6a in ZIP code 67520, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bison's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Bison?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; 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
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hays, KS21 miles from this station, 55.6°F a year
- Great Bend, KS26 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Larned, KS27 miles from this station, 55.6°F a year
- Brownell, KS30 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made