Centerville, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Centerville's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 36.0 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.9°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 30°C, 915 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCenterville
- Station IDUSC00131354
- Location40.73°N 92.89°W
- Elevation905 ft (276 m)
- Population5,345
On October 22, the normal high in Centerville is 62°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Centerville.
- Jan 33° 12°
- Feb 38° 16°
- Mar 51° 27°
- Apr 63° 37°
- May 72° 48°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 86° 63°
- Aug 84° 61°
- Sep 76° 52°
- Oct 64° 41°
- Nov 50° 28°
- Dec 38° 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 Centerville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.22 in), the least in January (0.99 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 12°F | 22.3°F | 0.99 | 7.1 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 16°F | 26.8°F | 1.26 | 5.0 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 27°F | 38.5°F | 2.15 | 3.2 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 37°F | 50.0°F | 3.88 | 1.7 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 48°F | 60.3°F | 5.22 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 4.71 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 63°F | 74.5°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 61°F | 72.6°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 76°F | 52°F | 64.2°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 41°F | 52.5°F | 3.01 | 0.3 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 28°F | 39.1°F | 2.19 | 1.9 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 18°F | 28.1°F | 1.46 | 2.3 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 39°F | 49.9°F | 36.03 | 21.5 | 90 | 17 | 132 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −11°C | −5.4°C | 25 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 3°C | −9°C | −2.9°C | 32 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 10°C | −3°C | 3.6°C | 55 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 10.0°C | 99 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.7°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.6°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 76 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 56 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 37 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00131354; 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 Centerville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, 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 USC00131354.
When is the last frost in Centerville?
In Centerville, 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 14 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 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 168 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 188 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Centerville in zone 5b in ZIP code 52544, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00131354; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Centerville?
In a normal year in Centerville, 17 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 132 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 90 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a 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
- 42high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 90a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on July 5, 1911; the lowest is −30°F, on January 28, 1915.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 58.15 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 42.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00131354; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00131354. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Centerville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Centerville, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.9 |
| February | 69% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 72% | 2.2 |
| December | 66% | 1.7 |
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 Centerville need?
A normal year in Centerville brings 6,330 heating degree days, 18% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 880 cooling degree days, 3% 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 3,175 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,322 | 0 |
| February | 1,068 | 0 |
| March | 822 | 1 |
| April | 456 | 6 |
| May | 193 | 49 |
| June | 24 | 183 |
| July | 2 | 295 |
| August | 9 | 244 |
| September | 114 | 90 |
| October | 400 | 12 |
| November | 777 | 0 |
| December | 1,144 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,330 | 880 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00131354. 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 Centerville been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 49.1°F, 0.8°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 49.9°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.7°F | +0.8°F | 41.76 | 25.3 |
| 2022 | 49.1°F | −0.8°F | 32.04 | 27.2 |
Over 64 complete years from 1913 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00131354; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Centerville's climate compare?
Centerville is warmer than 105 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 53. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.9°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Centerville 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 Centerville share this climate record?
4 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.
- Moulton, IA596 people · 12 mi E
- Plano, IA57 people · 8 mi W
- Livonia, MO52 people · 19 mi SE
- Udell, IA31 people · 8 mi NE
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 Centerville's climate
What is the coldest month in Centerville?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Centerville?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Centerville?
May, with 5.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.99 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Centerville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Centerville in zone 5b in ZIP code 52544, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Centerville?
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
- Rathbun, IA6 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Unionville, MO19 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Albia, IA24 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Bloomfield, IA25 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made