Clay Center, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Clay Center's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 31.9 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.4°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 33°C, 809 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationClay Center
- Station IDUSC00141559
- Location39.37°N 97.13°W
- Elevation1,201 ft (366 m)
- Population4,070
On October 14, the normal high in Clay Center is 69°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Clay Center.
- Jan 39° 18°
- Feb 44° 21°
- Mar 55° 31°
- Apr 66° 41°
- May 76° 53°
- Jun 86° 64°
- Jul 91° 68°
- Aug 89° 66°
- Sep 81° 57°
- Oct 68° 44°
- Nov 53° 31°
- Dec 42° 21°
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 Clay Center each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.90 in), the least in January (0.72 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 18°F | 28.3°F | 0.72 | 3.1 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 21°F | 32.5°F | 1.09 | 2.0 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 31°F | 43.1°F | 1.94 | 0.8 | 6 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 2.83 | 0.6 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 53°F | 64.5°F | 4.90 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 64°F | 74.9°F | 4.50 | 0.0 | 8 | 11 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 68°F | 79.8°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 66°F | 77.2°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 2.89 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 44°F | 55.9°F | 2.24 | 0.2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 31°F | 42.1°F | 1.49 | 0.9 | 5 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| December | 42°F | 21°F | 31.5°F | 1.14 | 3.2 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 43°F | 54.3°F | 31.85 | 10.8 | 78 | 54 | 121 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −8°C | −2.1°C | 18 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 7°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 28 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 13°C | −1°C | 6.2°C | 49 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 72 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 18.1°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 20°C | 26.6°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 6°C | 13.3°C | 57 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 12°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 38 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 5°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 29 mm | 8 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141559; 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 Clay Center?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00141559.
When is the last frost in Clay Center?
In Clay Center, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 2 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 2; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 181 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 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clay Center in zone 6b in ZIP code 67432, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Clay Center's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (23 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 USC00141559; 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 Clay Center?
In a normal year in Clay Center, 54 days a year reach 90°F (8 of them 100°F or more), 121 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 54a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 121a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 117°F, on August 13, 1936; the lowest is −35°F, on February 14, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1951, with 53.86 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 65.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141559; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141559. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Clay Center?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Clay Center, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 83% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 3.6 |
| November | 79% | 2.6 |
| December | 74% | 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 Clay Center need?
A normal year in Clay Center brings 5,317 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,467 cooling degree days, 62% 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 4,067 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,139 | 0 |
| February | 910 | 0 |
| March | 683 | 2 |
| April | 362 | 15 |
| May | 118 | 104 |
| June | 8 | 303 |
| July | 1 | 458 |
| August | 3 | 381 |
| September | 60 | 175 |
| October | 310 | 28 |
| November | 686 | 1 |
| December | 1,038 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,317 | 1,467 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141559. 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 Clay Center been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.8°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.5°F | +1.2°F | 23.60 | 12.5 |
| 2022 | 53.9°F | −0.4°F | 25.45 | 15.0 |
| 2023 | 55.7°F | +1.4°F | 21.37 | 11.5 |
| 2024 | 56.5°F | +2.2°F | 28.42 | 8.2 |
| 2025 | 54.8°F | +0.5°F | 23.37 | 22.9 |
Over 105 complete years from 1904 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00141559; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Clay Center's climate compare?
Clay Center is warmer than 49 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 68. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.3°F is warmer than 58%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Clay Center 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 Clay Center share this climate record?
10 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.
- Clifton, KS456 people · 16 mi NW
- Leonardville, KS441 people · 14 mi E
- Miltonvale, KS433 people · 17 mi W
- Morganville, KS181 people · 8 mi NW
- Green, KS92 people · 8 mi NE
- Longford, KS71 people · 18 mi SW
- Vining, KS39 people · 16 mi NW
- Idana, KS30 people · 7 mi W
- Oak Hill, KS25 people · 14 mi SW
- Bala, KS0 people · 10 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.
Questions about Clay Center's climate
What is the coldest month in Clay Center?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Clay Center?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Clay Center?
May, with 4.90 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Clay Center in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Clay Center in zone 6b in ZIP code 67432, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Clay Center's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Clay Center?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 2. Waiting until May 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Milford, KS24 miles from this station, 54.7°F a year
- Chapman, KS29 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Manhattan, KS29 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Tuttle Creek Lake, KS30 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made