Cambridge, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cambridge's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 23.4 inches of precipitation and 24 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.6°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 32°C, 595 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCambridge
- Station IDUSC00251415
- Location40.28°N 100.14°W
- Elevation2,239 ft (682 m)
- Population1,053
On October 22, the normal high in Cambridge is 65°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cambridge.
- Jan 41° 13°
- Feb 45° 15°
- Mar 56° 25°
- Apr 65° 35°
- May 74° 46°
- Jun 85° 58°
- Jul 89° 63°
- Aug 87° 61°
- Sep 81° 50°
- Oct 68° 35°
- Nov 55° 23°
- Dec 43° 14°
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 Cambridge each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.88 in), the least in January (0.41 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 13°F | 27.0°F | 0.41 | 4.4 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 15°F | 30.1°F | 0.64 | 5.7 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 25°F | 40.4°F | 1.17 | 3.1 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 35°F | 49.7°F | 2.23 | 1.7 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 46°F | 60.1°F | 3.26 | 0.3 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 85°F | 58°F | 71.3°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 89°F | 63°F | 76.4°F | 3.88 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 87°F | 61°F | 74.0°F | 3.02 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 50°F | 65.4°F | 1.67 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 35°F | 51.7°F | 1.82 | 0.8 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 23°F | 38.7°F | 0.89 | 2.8 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 14°F | 28.2°F | 0.67 | 5.2 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 37°F | 51.1°F | 23.44 | 24.0 | 72 | 45 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −11°C | −2.8°C | 10 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 7°C | −9°C | −1.1°C | 16 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 13°C | −4°C | 4.7°C | 30 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 9.8°C | 57 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 8°C | 15.6°C | 83 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 29°C | 14°C | 21.8°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 17°C | 24.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 16°C | 23.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 10°C | 18.6°C | 42 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 10.9°C | 46 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 13°C | −5°C | 3.7°C | 23 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 6°C | −10°C | −2.1°C | 17 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251415; 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 Cambridge?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, 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 USC00251415.
When is the last frost in Cambridge?
In Cambridge, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 5 in half of years and before September 24 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
- May 31 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 51 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 156 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 175 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cambridge in zone 5b in ZIP code 69022, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cambridge's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00251415; 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 Cambridge?
In a normal year in Cambridge, 45 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 72 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 45a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 72a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1898) is 116°F, on July 25, 1936; the lowest is −35°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1944, with 38.31 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 82.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00251415; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00251415. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cambridge?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cambridge, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.4 |
| February | 75% | 3.2 |
| March | 76% | 4.4 |
| April | 75% | 5.5 |
| May | 77% | 6.3 |
| June | 85% | 7.2 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 83% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 3.6 |
| November | 80% | 2.6 |
| December | 77% | 2.1 |
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 Cambridge need?
A normal year in Cambridge brings 6,074 heating degree days, 13% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,032 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 3,306 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,178 | 0 |
| February | 977 | 0 |
| March | 763 | 0 |
| April | 464 | 5 |
| May | 203 | 51 |
| June | 27 | 214 |
| July | 3 | 354 |
| August | 7 | 286 |
| September | 102 | 112 |
| October | 421 | 8 |
| November | 789 | 0 |
| December | 1,141 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,074 | 1,032 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251415. 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 Cambridge been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.1°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.3°F | +1.2°F | 24.65 | 24.4 |
| 2022 | 51.3°F | +0.2°F | 16.86 | 12.4 |
| 2023 | 51.2°F | +0.1°F | 21.84 | 27.0 |
| 2024 | 53.0°F | +1.9°F | 25.92 | 10.5 |
| 2025 | 52.1°F | +1.0°F | 21.15 | 14.6 |
Over 64 complete years from 1909 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.7°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00251415; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cambridge's climate compare?
Cambridge is warmer than 101 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.1°F is warmer than 45%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cambridge 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 Cambridge share this climate record?
3 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.
- Bartley, NE261 people · 9 mi W
- Holbrook, NE197 people · 7 mi E
- Wilsonville, NE72 people · 12 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 Cambridge's climate
What is the coldest month in Cambridge?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Cambridge?
Yes: 24 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Cambridge?
July, with 3.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.41 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cambridge in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cambridge in zone 5b in ZIP code 69022, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Cambridge's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Cambridge?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Medicine Creek Dam, NE8 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- Edison, NE19 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Beaver City, NE20 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- McCook, NE24 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made