Council Grove, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Council Grove's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 35.0 inches of precipitation and 12 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.1°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 32°C, 889 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCouncil Grove Lake
- Station IDUSC00141867
- Location38.68°N 96.51°W
- Elevation1,315 ft (401 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population2,101
On October 14, the normal high in Council Grove is 70°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Council Grove.
- Jan 40° 20°
- Feb 45° 23°
- Mar 56° 33°
- Apr 67° 44°
- May 75° 55°
- Jun 85° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 81° 58°
- Oct 69° 45°
- Nov 55° 33°
- Dec 44° 24°
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 Council Grove each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.15 in), the least in January (0.76 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 20°F | 29.9°F | 0.76 | 4.0 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 23°F | 34.2°F | 1.26 | 2.9 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 33°F | 44.7°F | 2.24 | 1.2 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 44°F | 55.0°F | 3.42 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 55°F | 65.2°F | 5.15 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 85°F | 65°F | 74.8°F | 4.87 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.8°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 78.0°F | 4.42 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 58°F | 69.5°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 45°F | 57.1°F | 2.42 | 0.4 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 1.73 | 0.5 | 5 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 24°F | 33.6°F | 1.12 | 2.8 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 45°F | 55.5°F | 34.99 | 12.0 | 90 | 47 | 120 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −7°C | −1.2°C | 19 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 1.2°C | 32 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 57 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 87 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.4°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.6°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 13.9°C | 61 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 44 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 6°C | −5°C | 0.9°C | 28 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141867; 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 Council Grove?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, 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 USC00141867.
When is the last frost in Council Grove?
In Council Grove, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 11 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 11 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 111 year in 10 after April 27; 9 in 10 after March 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 194 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 213 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 1 in half of springs and before November 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Council Grove in zone 6b in ZIP code 66846, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Council Grove's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°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 USC00141867; 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 Council Grove?
In a normal year in Council Grove, 47 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 120 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 90 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 47a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 120a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 25high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 90a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1964) is 114°F, on July 11, 1980; the lowest is −24°F, on December 24, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 50.25 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 37.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00141867; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00141867. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Council Grove?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Council Grove, 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 Council Grove need?
A normal year in Council Grove brings 4,948 heating degree days, 8% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,523 cooling degree days, 68% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,221 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,086 | 0 |
| February | 861 | 0 |
| March | 633 | 4 |
| April | 322 | 22 |
| May | 105 | 109 |
| June | 8 | 302 |
| July | 0 | 457 |
| August | 1 | 404 |
| September | 52 | 188 |
| October | 280 | 34 |
| November | 626 | 2 |
| December | 973 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,948 | 1,523 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00141867. 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 Council Grove been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 56.8°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.5°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.7°F | +0.2°F | – | – |
| 2022 | 53.8°F | −1.7°F | – | – |
| 2023 | 56.0°F | +0.5°F | 27.72 | 0.8 |
| 2024 | 56.8°F | +1.3°F | 34.94 | 9.5 |
Over 51 complete years from 1966 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.4°F per century (+0.30°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00141867; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Council Grove's climate compare?
Council Grove is warmer than 86 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 89. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.5°F is warmer than 62%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Council Grove 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 Council Grove share this climate record?
6 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.
- Alta Vista, KS412 people · 13 mi N
- Dwight, KS210 people · 12 mi N
- Wilsey, KS139 people · 9 mi W
- Parkerville, KS47 people · 10 mi NW
- Bushong, KS28 people · 14 mi E
- Dunlap, KS28 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 Council Grove's climate
What is the coldest month in Council Grove?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Council Grove?
Yes: 12 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Council Grove?
May, with 5.15 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.76 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Council Grove in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Council Grove in zone 6b in ZIP code 66846, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Council Grove's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Council Grove?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 11; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 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, KS17 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Cottonwood Falls, KS21 miles from this station, 54.7°F a year
- Herington, KS24 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Eskridge, KS25 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made