Chillicothe, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Chillicothe's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 40.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,023 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationChillicothe Agri-Science
- Station IDUSW00053916
- Location39.82°N 93.58°W
- Elevation769 ft (234 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population9,103
On October 23, the normal high in Chillicothe is 64°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Chillicothe.
- Jan 37° 18°
- Feb 42° 22°
- Mar 54° 33°
- Apr 66° 43°
- May 75° 54°
- Jun 84° 64°
- Jul 88° 67°
- Aug 86° 65°
- Sep 79° 56°
- Oct 67° 44°
- Nov 53° 32°
- Dec 41° 23°
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 Chillicothe each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.42 in), the least in January (1.25 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 18°F | 27.4°F | 1.25 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 22°F | 32.2°F | 1.60 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 33°F | 43.4°F | 2.80 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 43°F | 54.2°F | 3.84 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 54°F | 64.1°F | 5.42 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 64°F | 73.5°F | 5.29 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 88°F | 67°F | 77.5°F | 4.10 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 65°F | 75.6°F | 4.76 | 11 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 56°F | 67.3°F | 3.84 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 44°F | 55.5°F | 3.25 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 32°F | 42.7°F | 2.43 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 23°F | 32.1°F | 1.70 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 43°F | 53.8°F | 40.28 | 112 | 35 | 118 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 32 mm |
| February | 6°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 41 mm |
| March | 12°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 71 mm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 98 mm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 138 mm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.1°C | 134 mm |
| July | 31°C | 20°C | 25.3°C | 104 mm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 121 mm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 98 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 83 mm |
| November | 12°C | 0°C | 5.9°C | 62 mm |
| December | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 43 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Chillicothe's own co-op station Chillicothe (2 mi S) does: 14 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053916; 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 Chillicothe?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00053916.
When is the last frost in Chillicothe?
In Chillicothe, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 15 in half of years and after May 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 21 in half of years and before October 8 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 151 year in 10 after May 1; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 211 year in 10 before October 8; 9 in 10 before November 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 188 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 208 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 4 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Chillicothe in zone 6a in ZIP code 64601, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Chillicothe's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 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 USW00053916; 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 Chillicothe?
In a normal year in Chillicothe, 35 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 118 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 35a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 118a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1998) is 106°F, on July 7, 2012; the lowest is −19°F, on January 5, 1999.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2009, with 52.49 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053916; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00053916. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Chillicothe?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Chillicothe, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and January the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.1 |
| February | 70% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.4 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 75% | 3.3 |
| November | 73% | 2.4 |
| December | 68% | 1.8 |
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 Chillicothe need?
A normal year in Chillicothe brings 5,295 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,251 cooling degree days, 38% 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 3,839 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,164 | 0 |
| February | 917 | 0 |
| March | 674 | 2 |
| April | 338 | 15 |
| May | 115 | 89 |
| June | 9 | 264 |
| July | 1 | 390 |
| August | 2 | 331 |
| September | 67 | 135 |
| October | 321 | 25 |
| November | 670 | 1 |
| December | 1,018 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,295 | 1,251 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053916. 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 Chillicothe been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 56.3°F, 2.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.8°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.4°F | +1.6°F | 42.42 |
| 2022 | 54.3°F | +0.5°F | 39.60 |
| 2023 | 56.3°F | +2.5°F | 34.14 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053916. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Chillicothe's climate compare?
Chillicothe is warmer than 36 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.8°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Chillicothe 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 Chillicothe share this climate record?
8 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.
- Wheeling, MO226 people · 11 mi E
- Utica, MO222 people · 6 mi SW
- Chula, MO199 people · 9 mi NE
- Ludlow, MO110 people · 13 mi SW
- Dawn, MO106 people · 11 mi S
- Mooresville, MO100 people · 9 mi SW
- Lock Springs, MO40 people · 11 mi W
- Avalon, MO36 people · 14 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 Chillicothe's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Chillicothe. This page uses Chillicothe Agri-Science; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chillicothe (2 mi S) USC00231580 | 2 mi SE | 780 ft | 52.6°F | 16°F | 87°F | 41.2 | 14 | April 15 |
| Chillicothe (22 mi ENE) USW00013301 | 22 mi E | 833 ft | 52.5°F | 18°F | 85°F | 40.1 | – | April 15 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Chillicothe's climate
What is the coldest month in Chillicothe?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Chillicothe?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Chillicothe's NOAA station; Chillicothe's own co-op station Chillicothe (2 mi S) records 14 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Chillicothe?
May, with 5.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.25 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Chillicothe in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Chillicothe in zone 6a in ZIP code 64601, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Chillicothe's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Chillicothe?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 1. Waiting until May 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Trenton, MO18 miles from this station, 52.8°F a year
- Gallatin, MO22 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Linneus, MO23 miles from this station, 52.1°F a year
- Hamilton, MO25 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made