Colby, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Colby's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 20.4 inches of precipitation and 27 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.0°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 33°C, 518 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColby (1 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00141699
- Location39.39°N 101.07°W
- Elevation3,170 ft (966 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,539
On October 23, the normal high in Colby is 65°F and the normal low 33°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 Colby.
- Jan 43° 15°
- Feb 46° 17°
- Mar 56° 26°
- Apr 65° 34°
- May 74° 46°
- Jun 86° 57°
- Jul 91° 62°
- Aug 88° 60°
- Sep 81° 50°
- Oct 68° 36°
- Nov 54° 25°
- Dec 44° 16°
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 Colby each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.81 in), the least in January (0.41 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 15°F | 29.0°F | 0.41 | 5.1 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 17°F | 31.6°F | 0.56 | 5.8 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 26°F | 40.8°F | 0.92 | 4.2 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 34°F | 49.5°F | 1.97 | 2.2 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 46°F | 60.1°F | 2.92 | 0.7 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 57°F | 71.8°F | 2.62 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 62°F | 76.7°F | 3.81 | 0.0 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 88°F | 60°F | 74.1°F | 3.04 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 50°F | 65.8°F | 1.44 | 0.2 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 36°F | 52.2°F | 1.56 | 1.6 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 25°F | 39.5°F | 0.63 | 3.5 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 16°F | 30.2°F | 0.51 | 3.9 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 37°F | 51.8°F | 20.39 | 27.2 | 74 | 58 | 164 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −9°C | −1.7°C | 10 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 8°C | −8°C | −0.2°C | 14 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 13°C | −4°C | 4.9°C | 23 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 18°C | 1°C | 9.7°C | 50 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 24°C | 8°C | 15.6°C | 74 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 30°C | 14°C | 22.1°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 24.8°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 15°C | 23.4°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 10°C | 18.8°C | 37 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 11.2°C | 40 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 4.2°C | 16 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 7°C | −9°C | −1.0°C | 13 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141699; 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 Colby?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00141699.
When is the last frost in Colby?
In Colby, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 26 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
- May 21 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 156 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Colby in zone 6a in ZIP code 67701, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Colby's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (30 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 USC00141699; 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 Colby?
In a normal year in Colby, 58 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 164 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 74 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 58a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 164a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 25high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 74a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1957) is 113°F, on June 28, 2012; the lowest is −32°F, on December 22, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 30.79 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 70.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141699; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141699. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Colby?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Colby, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.5 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 78% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.5 |
| June | 86% | 7.3 |
| July | 89% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 3.8 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 77% | 2.2 |
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 Colby need?
A normal year in Colby brings 5,851 heating degree days, 9% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,069 cooling degree days, 18% 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 3,381 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,114 | 0 |
| February | 937 | 0 |
| March | 749 | 0 |
| April | 467 | 4 |
| May | 204 | 52 |
| June | 27 | 231 |
| July | 3 | 364 |
| August | 7 | 289 |
| September | 95 | 119 |
| October | 405 | 10 |
| November | 765 | 0 |
| December | 1,077 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,851 | 1,069 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141699. 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 Colby been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.4°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.8°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 52.2°F | +0.4°F | 21.12 | 26.0 |
| 2024 | 54.5°F | +2.7°F | 14.99 | 8.9 |
| 2025 | 53.4°F | +1.6°F | 20.68 | 21.3 |
Over 63 complete years from 1958 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.6°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00141699; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Colby's climate compare?
Colby is warmer than 7 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 17. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.8°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Colby 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 Colby share this climate record?
2 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.
- Gem, KS95 people · 9 mi E
- Levant, KS57 people · 7 mi W
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 Colby's climate
What is the coldest month in Colby?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Colby?
Yes: 27 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Colby?
July, with 3.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.41 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Colby in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Colby in zone 6a in ZIP code 67701, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Colby's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Colby?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Brewster, KS21 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Oakley, KS21 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Winona, KS25 miles from this station, 53.1°F a year
- Atwood, KS28 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made