Cape Girardeau, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cape Girardeau's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 47.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.3°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,217 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCape Girardeau Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00003935
- Location37.23°N 89.57°W
- Elevation336 ft (102 m)
- Population40,818
On October 14, the normal high in Cape Girardeau is 72°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cape Girardeau.
- Jan 43° 26°
- Feb 48° 30°
- Mar 58° 37°
- Apr 69° 47°
- May 78° 58°
- Jun 87° 66°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 88° 66°
- Sep 82° 58°
- Oct 71° 46°
- Nov 57° 37°
- Dec 46° 30°
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 Cape Girardeau each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.27 in), the least in August (3.23 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 26°F | 34.6°F | 3.51 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 30°F | 38.9°F | 3.31 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 37°F | 47.7°F | 4.69 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 47°F | 57.9°F | 5.18 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 78°F | 58°F | 67.8°F | 5.27 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 87°F | 66°F | 76.2°F | 3.80 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 79.3°F | 3.87 | 10 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 88°F | 66°F | 77.4°F | 3.23 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 3.61 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 46°F | 58.6°F | 3.57 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 37°F | 46.7°F | 4.25 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 30°F | 38.0°F | 3.62 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 48°F | 57.7°F | 47.91 | 116 | 47 | 90 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −3°C | 1.4°C | 89 mm |
| February | 9°C | −1°C | 3.8°C | 84 mm |
| March | 15°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 119 mm |
| April | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 132 mm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 134 mm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 97 mm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 98 mm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 25.2°C | 82 mm |
| September | 28°C | 14°C | 20.9°C | 92 mm |
| October | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 91 mm |
| November | 14°C | 3°C | 8.2°C | 108 mm |
| December | 8°C | −1°C | 3.3°C | 92 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Jackson (12 miles away), gets 8 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003935; 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 Cape Girardeau?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00003935.
When is the last frost in Cape Girardeau?
In Cape Girardeau, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 12 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 51 year in 10 after April 21; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 12; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 201 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 223 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 26 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cape Girardeau in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 63701, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cape Girardeau's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (29 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 USW00003935; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Cape Girardeau ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Cape Girardeau's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Cape Girardeau?
In a normal year in Cape Girardeau, 47 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 90 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 116 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 47a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 90a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 13high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 116a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 107°F, on June 29, 2012; the lowest is −18°F, on January 11, 1977.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 74.39 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 44.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003935; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003935. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cape Girardeau?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cape Girardeau, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 2.2 |
| February | 65% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 75% | 5.7 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 64% | 1.9 |
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 Cape Girardeau need?
A normal year in Cape Girardeau brings 4,177 heating degree days, 22% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,566 cooling degree days, 73% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,462 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 942 | 0 |
| February | 730 | 0 |
| March | 541 | 4 |
| April | 242 | 29 |
| May | 60 | 147 |
| June | 2 | 340 |
| July | 0 | 442 |
| August | 1 | 383 |
| September | 37 | 179 |
| October | 238 | 39 |
| November | 550 | 3 |
| December | 835 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,177 | 1,566 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003935. 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 Cape Girardeau been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 58.5°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.5°F | +0.8°F | 45.87 |
| 2022 | 57.5°F | −0.2°F | 41.65 |
| 2023 | 59.7°F | +2.0°F | 49.27 |
| 2024 | 60.4°F | +2.7°F | 45.05 |
| 2025 | 58.5°F | +0.8°F | 52.89 |
Over 63 complete years from 1961 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.0°F per century (+0.28°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003935; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cape Girardeau's climate compare?
Cape Girardeau is warmer than 121 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 108. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.7°F is warmer than 68%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cape Girardeau is Cfa: temperate, 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 Cape Girardeau share this climate record?
16 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.
- Scott City, MO4,432 people · 2 mi E
- Chaffee, MO3,017 people · 6 mi SW
- Oran, MO1,205 people · 11 mi SW
- Benton, MO911 people · 9 mi S
- Kelso, MO553 people · 3 mi SE
- Olive Branch, IL441 people · 12 mi E
- Delta, MO379 people · 9 mi W
- Tamms, IL373 people · 17 mi E
- East Cape Girardeau, IL253 people · 7 mi NE
- Dutchtown, MO242 people · 5 mi NW
- McClure, IL224 people · 10 mi NE
- Thebes, IL182 people · 7 mi E
- New Hamburg, MO169 people · 7 mi S
- Unity, IL153 people · 17 mi E
- Allenville, MO95 people · 10 mi W
- Lambert, MO9 people · 9 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 Cape Girardeau's climate
What is the coldest month in Cape Girardeau?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Cape Girardeau?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Cape Girardeau's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Jackson (12 miles away), records 8 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Cape Girardeau?
May, with 5.27 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.23 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cape Girardeau in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cape Girardeau in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 63701, the largest). By the same method at Cape Girardeau's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Cape Girardeau?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 21. Waiting until April 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Cape Girardeau in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Jackson, MO12 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Advance, MO21 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Marble Hill, MO22 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Sikeston, MO24 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made