Cottonwood Falls, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cottonwood Falls's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 38.0 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.6°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 32°C, 965 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCottonwood Falls
- Station IDUSC00141858
- Location38.37°N 96.55°W
- Elevation1,232 ft (376 m)
- Population833
On October 23, the normal high in Cottonwood Falls is 67°F and the normal low 40°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 Cottonwood Falls.
- Jan 41° 18°
- Feb 46° 22°
- Mar 57° 31°
- Apr 67° 41°
- May 75° 53°
- Jun 85° 63°
- Jul 90° 67°
- Aug 89° 65°
- Sep 81° 56°
- Oct 69° 43°
- Nov 56° 31°
- Dec 44° 22°
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 Cottonwood Falls each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.61 in), the least in January (0.87 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 18°F | 29.5°F | 0.87 | 4.0 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 46°F | 22°F | 33.8°F | 1.42 | 1.3 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 31°F | 43.9°F | 2.67 | 1.3 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 41°F | 54.0°F | 3.54 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 53°F | 64.2°F | 5.61 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 85°F | 63°F | 73.8°F | 4.72 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 90°F | 67°F | 78.7°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 9 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 65°F | 77.0°F | 4.37 | 0.0 | 8 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 56°F | 68.6°F | 3.53 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 43°F | 56.1°F | 2.83 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 31°F | 43.4°F | 2.04 | 0.4 | 5 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 22°F | 32.8°F | 1.39 | 3.1 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 37.99 | 10.6 | 84 | 49 | 119 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −8°C | −1.4°C | 22 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 1.0°C | 36 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 14°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 68 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 19°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 90 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 142 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 18°C | 25.0°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 13°C | 20.3°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 6°C | 13.4°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 6.3°C | 52 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 7°C | −6°C | 0.4°C | 35 mm | 8 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141858; 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 Cottonwood Falls?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00141858.
When is the last frost in Cottonwood Falls?
In Cottonwood Falls, 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 18 in half of years and before October 1 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 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 180 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 200 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 7 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cottonwood Falls in zone 6b in ZIP code 66845, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cottonwood Falls's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (28 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 USC00141858; 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 Cottonwood Falls?
In a normal year in Cottonwood Falls, 49 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 119 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 119a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 118°F, on July 18, 1936; the lowest is −30°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1951, with 57.11 in; the snowiest season is 1958–59, with 36.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141858; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141858. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cottonwood Falls?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cottonwood Falls, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and March the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.4 |
| February | 72% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 5.9 |
| June | 83% | 6.8 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 79% | 3.6 |
| November | 78% | 2.6 |
| December | 73% | 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 Cottonwood Falls need?
A normal year in Cottonwood Falls brings 5,116 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,380 cooling degree days, 52% 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 4,005 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,099 | 0 |
| February | 874 | 0 |
| March | 658 | 3 |
| April | 345 | 17 |
| May | 117 | 92 |
| June | 8 | 271 |
| July | 1 | 424 |
| August | 2 | 376 |
| September | 59 | 169 |
| October | 303 | 28 |
| November | 651 | 1 |
| December | 1,000 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,116 | 1,380 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141858. 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 Cottonwood Falls been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 56.7°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.8°F | +1.1°F | 33.70 | 11.2 |
| 2022 | 54.1°F | −0.6°F | 42.37 | 18.8 |
| 2023 | 56.4°F | +1.7°F | 29.08 | 14.5 |
| 2024 | 56.7°F | +2.0°F | 37.05 | 9.5 |
Over 92 complete years from 1907 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.1°F per century (+0.00°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00141858; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cottonwood Falls's climate compare?
Cottonwood Falls is warmer than 59 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 103. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.7°F is warmer than 59%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cottonwood Falls 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 Cottonwood Falls 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.
- Strong City, KS377 people · 2 mi N
- Elmdale, KS40 people · 5 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 Cottonwood Falls's climate
What is the coldest month in Cottonwood Falls?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Cottonwood Falls?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Cottonwood Falls?
May, with 5.61 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cottonwood Falls in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cottonwood Falls in zone 6b in ZIP code 66845, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Cottonwood Falls's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Cottonwood Falls?
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
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tallgrass Prairie National Park, KS4 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Emporia, KS20 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- Council Grove, KS21 miles from this station, 55.5°F a year
- Florence, KS22 miles from this station, 54.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made