Clay Center, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Clay Center's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 29.8 inches of precipitation and 19 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.9°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 31°C, 756 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationClay Center
- Station IDUSC00251684
- Location40.52°N 98.05°W
- Elevation1,788 ft (545 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population723
On October 14, the normal high in Clay Center is 67°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Clay Center.
- Jan 35° 16°
- Feb 40° 19°
- Mar 52° 29°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 73° 50°
- Jun 84° 61°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 85° 63°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 51° 29°
- Dec 39° 20°
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 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.34 in), the least in January (0.58 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 16°F | 25.8°F | 0.58 | 4.5 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 19°F | 29.6°F | 0.82 | 5.9 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 29°F | 40.2°F | 1.32 | 1.5 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 50.6°F | 2.57 | 1.4 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 50°F | 61.6°F | 5.34 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 61°F | 72.6°F | 4.20 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.4°F | 4.15 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 63°F | 74.2°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 66.1°F | 2.25 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.3°F | 2.36 | 0.4 | 5 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 29°F | 39.8°F | 1.37 | 1.5 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 20°F | 29.3°F | 0.97 | 3.3 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 41°F | 51.6°F | 29.78 | 18.5 | 70 | 34 | 145 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −9°C | −3.4°C | 15 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.3°C | 21 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 11°C | −2°C | 4.6°C | 34 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 65 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.6°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.9°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 60 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 35 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 4°C | −7°C | −1.5°C | 25 mm | 8 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251684; 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 May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00251684.
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 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 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 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 181 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 203 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 7 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clay Center in zone 6a in ZIP code 68933, 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 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00251684; 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, 34 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 145 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 70 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 145a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 39high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 70a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1971) is 107°F, on August 17, 1983; the lowest is −27°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1977, with 41.91 in; the snowiest season is 1974–75, with 38.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00251684; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00251684. 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 (86%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 6.1 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 78% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 1.9 |
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 5,934 heating degree days, 10% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,096 cooling degree days, 21% 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 3,485 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,217 | 0 |
| February | 990 | 0 |
| March | 768 | 1 |
| April | 438 | 7 |
| May | 172 | 67 |
| June | 17 | 243 |
| July | 1 | 356 |
| August | 4 | 289 |
| September | 85 | 120 |
| October | 378 | 14 |
| November | 756 | 0 |
| December | 1,108 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,934 | 1,096 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251684. 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 52.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.5°F | +0.9°F | 27.64 | 26.4 |
| 2022 | 50.8°F | −0.8°F | 22.46 | 11.4 |
| 2023 | 52.1°F | +0.5°F | 21.93 | 19.7 |
| 2024 | 52.9°F | +1.3°F | 26.91 | 18.4 |
| 2025 | 52.0°F | +0.4°F | 31.00 | 22.1 |
Over 35 complete years from 1972 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.9°F per century (+0.21°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00251684; 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 117 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 99. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.6°F is warmer than 48%.
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?
9 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.
- Sutton, NE1,443 people · 12 mi NE
- Harvard, NE942 people · 7 mi N
- Edgar, NE427 people · 11 mi S
- Fairfield, NE333 people · 7 mi SW
- Glenvil, NE268 people · 11 mi W
- Ong, NE51 people · 14 mi SE
- Deweese, NE44 people · 12 mi S
- Saronville, NE37 people · 8 mi NE
- Inland, NE28 people · 10 mi NW
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 35°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Clay Center?
Yes: 19 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Clay Center?
May, with 5.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.58 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Clay Center in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Clay Center in zone 6a in ZIP code 68933, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Clay Center's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
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 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hastings, NE21 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Aurora, NE24 miles from this station, 51.3°F a year
- Geneva, NE24 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Fairmont, NE25 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made