Columbus, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbus's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 46.0 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.0°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,168 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbus
- Station IDUSC00141740
- Location37.18°N 94.84°W
- Elevation893 ft (272 m)
- Population2,878
On October 23, the normal high in Columbus is 68°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbus.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 49° 27°
- Mar 58° 36°
- Apr 68° 46°
- May 76° 56°
- Jun 85° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 68°
- Sep 81° 59°
- Oct 70° 48°
- Nov 58° 36°
- Dec 47° 28°
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 Columbus each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in May (7.10 in), the least in January (1.67 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 23°F | 33.4°F | 1.67 | 2.3 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 49°F | 27°F | 38.1°F | 1.99 | 1.1 | 6 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 36°F | 47.1°F | 3.41 | 1.3 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 46°F | 56.6°F | 5.07 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 56°F | 65.7°F | 7.10 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 85°F | 65°F | 74.9°F | 5.17 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.5°F | 4.15 | 0.0 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 89°F | 68°F | 78.5°F | 3.81 | 0.0 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 4.45 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 48°F | 58.9°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 36°F | 46.9°F | 2.98 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 47°F | 28°F | 37.1°F | 2.43 | 2.3 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 47°F | 57.2°F | 46.00 | 7.2 | 102 | 46 | 95 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −5°C | 0.8°C | 42 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 9°C | −3°C | 3.4°C | 51 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 87 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 20°C | 8°C | 13.7°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.7°C | 180 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.4°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 25.8°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 76 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −2°C | 2.8°C | 62 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141740; 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 Columbus?
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 (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 USC00141740.
When is the last frost in Columbus?
In Columbus, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 18 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 51 year in 10 after April 22; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 228 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 25 in half of springs and before November 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbus in zone 7a in ZIP code 66725, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbus's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (24 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 USC00141740; 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 Columbus?
In a normal year in Columbus, 46 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 95 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 102 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 95a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 102a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 117°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −28°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1985, with 67.02 in; the snowiest season is 1911–12, with 34.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141740; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141740. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Columbus?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbus, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.4 |
| February | 69% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 82% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.6 |
| November | 74% | 2.6 |
| December | 71% | 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 Columbus need?
A normal year in Columbus brings 4,342 heating degree days, 19% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,553 cooling degree days, 71% 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 4,409 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 978 | 0 |
| February | 753 | 0 |
| March | 560 | 5 |
| April | 278 | 24 |
| May | 90 | 110 |
| June | 6 | 304 |
| July | 0 | 448 |
| August | 1 | 419 |
| September | 36 | 197 |
| October | 231 | 42 |
| November | 547 | 4 |
| December | 863 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,342 | 1,553 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141740. 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 Columbus been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 58.3°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.2°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 59.9°F | +2.7°F | 44.85 | 2.5 |
| 2025 | 58.3°F | +1.1°F | 41.34 | 12.5 |
Over 115 complete years from 1893 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00141740; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbus's climate compare?
Columbus is warmer than 123 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 132. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.2°F is warmer than 67%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Columbus 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 Columbus share this climate record?
5 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.
- Quapaw, OK829 people · 16 mi S
- Scammon, KS368 people · 7 mi N
- West Mineral, KS147 people · 9 mi NW
- Roseland, KS74 people · 7 mi N
- Hallowell, KS53 people · 9 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 Columbus's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbus?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Columbus?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Columbus?
May, with 7.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.67 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbus in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbus in zone 7a in ZIP code 66725, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Columbus's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Columbus?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 22. Waiting until April 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pittsburg, KS17 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Joplin, MO19 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- Miami, OK21 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Girard, KS23 miles from this station, 56.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made