Centralia, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Centralia's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 35.9 inches of precipitation and 33 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 32°C, 912 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCentralia
- Station IDUSC00141408
- Location39.72°N 96.13°W
- Elevation1,320 ft (402 m)
- Population491
On October 23, the normal high in Centralia is 65°F and the normal low 41°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 Centralia.
- Jan 38° 17°
- Feb 43° 21°
- Mar 55° 30°
- Apr 66° 41°
- May 75° 53°
- Jun 84° 63°
- Jul 89° 67°
- Aug 87° 65°
- Sep 80° 56°
- Oct 68° 44°
- Nov 53° 31°
- Dec 41° 22°
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 Centralia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.50 in), the least in January (0.84 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 17°F | 27.4°F | 0.84 | 9.5 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 21°F | 31.9°F | 1.14 | 6.8 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 30°F | 42.5°F | 2.13 | 5.2 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 3.34 | 1.7 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 53°F | 64.2°F | 5.08 | 0.1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 63°F | 73.8°F | 4.62 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 89°F | 67°F | 78.2°F | 5.50 | 0.0 | 11 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 87°F | 65°F | 75.9°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 10 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 56°F | 68.0°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 44°F | 55.9°F | 2.44 | 0.8 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 31°F | 42.2°F | 1.52 | 3.6 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 22°F | 31.4°F | 1.23 | 5.7 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 43°F | 53.7°F | 35.91 | 33.4 | 97 | 37 | 123 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 21 mm | 24 cm |
| February | 6°C | −6°C | −0.1°C | 29 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 13°C | −1°C | 5.8°C | 54 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 85 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 13°C | 20.0°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 62 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 12°C | 0°C | 5.7°C | 39 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 5°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 31 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141408; 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 Centralia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00141408.
When is the last frost in Centralia?
In Centralia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 3 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 191 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 182 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 202 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 9 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Centralia in zone 6a in ZIP code 66415, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Centralia's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (16 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 USC00141408; 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 Centralia?
In a normal year in Centralia, 37 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 123 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 97 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 37a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 123a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 29high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 97a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 114°F, on July 15, 1934; the lowest is −35°F, on January 4, 1947.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 57.22 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 63.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141408; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141408. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Centralia?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Centralia, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 82% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.5 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 2.0 |
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 Centralia need?
A normal year in Centralia brings 5,375 heating degree days, 0% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,304 cooling degree days, 44% 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 3,902 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,164 | 0 |
| February | 927 | 0 |
| March | 699 | 1 |
| April | 362 | 14 |
| May | 114 | 89 |
| June | 9 | 273 |
| July | 0 | 408 |
| August | 3 | 341 |
| September | 61 | 151 |
| October | 308 | 26 |
| November | 686 | 1 |
| December | 1,041 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,375 | 1,304 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141408. 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 Centralia's climate compare?
Centralia is warmer than 38 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 91. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.7°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Centralia 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 Centralia share this climate record?
6 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.
- Onaga, KS681 people · 16 mi S
- Corning, KS209 people · 7 mi SE
- Havensville, KS130 people · 15 mi S
- Wheaton, KS106 people · 18 mi SW
- Goff, KS103 people · 11 mi E
- Kelly, KS1 people · 7 mi E
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 Centralia's climate
What is the coldest month in Centralia?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Centralia?
Yes: 33 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Centralia?
July, with 5.50 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.84 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Centralia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Centralia in zone 6a in ZIP code 66415, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Centralia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Centralia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; 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
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Baileyville, KS8 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Frankfort, KS12 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Pawnee City, NE27 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Holton, KS27 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made