Chanute, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Chanute's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 40.7 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.4°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,034 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationChanute Martin Johnson Airport
- Station IDUSW00013981
- Location37.67°N 95.48°W
- Elevation985 ft (300 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population8,536
On October 23, the normal high in Chanute is 69°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Chanute.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 50° 27°
- Mar 60° 36°
- Apr 70° 46°
- May 78° 56°
- Jun 87° 66°
- Jul 92° 70°
- Aug 91° 68°
- Sep 83° 59°
- Oct 72° 47°
- Nov 59° 36°
- Dec 47° 27°
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 Chanute each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.87 in), the least in January (1.18 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 23°F | 33.7°F | 1.18 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 50°F | 27°F | 38.3°F | 1.56 | 6 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 36°F | 48.3°F | 2.50 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 46°F | 57.7°F | 4.25 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 78°F | 56°F | 66.9°F | 5.87 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 87°F | 66°F | 76.2°F | 5.62 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 70°F | 80.6°F | 4.42 | 8 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 91°F | 68°F | 79.6°F | 3.79 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 59°F | 71.1°F | 4.10 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 47°F | 59.4°F | 3.33 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 36°F | 47.1°F | 2.36 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 47°F | 27°F | 37.1°F | 1.71 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 47°F | 58.0°F | 40.69 | 99 | 49 | 102 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −5°C | 0.9°C | 30 mm |
| February | 10°C | −3°C | 3.5°C | 40 mm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.1°C | 64 mm |
| April | 21°C | 8°C | 14.3°C | 108 mm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 149 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 143 mm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 27.0°C | 112 mm |
| August | 33°C | 20°C | 26.4°C | 96 mm |
| September | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 104 mm |
| October | 22°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 85 mm |
| November | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 60 mm |
| December | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 43 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Chanute's own co-op station Chanute (4 mi E) does: 10 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013981; 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 Chanute?
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 USW00013981.
When is the last frost in Chanute?
In Chanute, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 10 in half of years and after April 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 14 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 101 year in 10 after April 26; 9 in 10 after March 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 199 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 219 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 30 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Chanute in zone 7a in ZIP code 66720, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Chanute's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (29 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013981; 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 Chanute?
In a normal year in Chanute, 49 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 102 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 99 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 102a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 99a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 116°F, on July 18, 1936; the lowest is −23°F, on January 30, 1949.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 61.38 in; the snowiest season is 1987–88, with 34.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013981; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00013981. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Chanute?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Chanute, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.4 |
| February | 70% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 83% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 83% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.6 |
| November | 76% | 2.6 |
| December | 72% | 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 Chanute need?
A normal year in Chanute brings 4,226 heating degree days, 21% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,710 cooling degree days, 88% 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 4,628 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 969 | 0 |
| February | 748 | 1 |
| March | 525 | 7 |
| April | 249 | 30 |
| May | 71 | 131 |
| June | 3 | 339 |
| July | 0 | 484 |
| August | 1 | 453 |
| September | 33 | 216 |
| October | 221 | 46 |
| November | 541 | 4 |
| December | 866 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,226 | 1,710 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013981. 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 Chanute been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.0°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.0°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.5°F | +1.5°F | 50.17 |
| 2022 | 59.0°F | +1.0°F | 28.53 |
| 2023 | 60.1°F | +2.1°F | 31.35 |
| 2024 | 61.6°F | +3.6°F | 39.32 |
| 2025 | 59.0°F | +1.0°F | 39.96 |
Over 104 complete years from 1911 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013981; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Chanute's climate compare?
Chanute is warmer than 132 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 120. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.0°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Chanute 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 Chanute 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.
- Erie, KS1,035 people · 15 mi SE
- Buffalo, KS211 people · 12 mi W
- Earlton, KS58 people · 6 mi S
- Urbana, KS18 people · 9 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.
What do Chanute's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Chanute. This page uses Chanute Martin Johnson Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chanute (4 mi E) USC00141428 | 5 mi E | 992 ft | 55.9°F | 22°F | 88°F | 44.6 | 10 | April 8 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Chanute's climate
What is the coldest month in Chanute?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Chanute?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Chanute's NOAA station; Chanute's own co-op station Chanute (4 mi E) records 10 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Chanute?
May, with 5.87 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.18 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Chanute in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Chanute in zone 7a in ZIP code 66720, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Chanute's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Chanute?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 10; in one year in ten it comes after April 26. Waiting until April 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Humboldt, KS10 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Iola, KS18 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Yates Center, KS20 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Fredonia, KS21 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made