Council Grove Lake, KS Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Council Grove Lake's primary NOAA station, COUNCIL GROVE LAKE.
The climate verdict for Council Grove Lake
Council Grove Lake, Kansas has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 56°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 35.0"
- annual precipitation · 12" snow
- 197 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Council Grove Lake: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00141867 · Council Grove Lake, KS 56°F mean · 35.0" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,254
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Topeka Forbes F…
- PRCP-MID 35.0"
- SWING-WIDE 50°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,948 HDD
- STN-1 USC00141867
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Topeka Forbes Fld, KS ( -0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every KS station list.
- Council Grove L… (this station) 56°F
- Hot Mcpherson, KS 56°F
- Near Hays, KS 56°F
- Cold Topeka Forbes F…, KS 55°F
- Near Meade, KS 55°F
Climate Living Index · Council Grove Lake
Council Grove Lake: 63/100 · grade C
Council Grove Lake publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Council Grove Lake, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 35.0 in · 0.0 from 35 in | 96/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 197 days/year | 62/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.5°F · 12.0° from 67.5°F | 61/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 12.0 inches/year | 60/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 149 calendar days | 47/100 · D |
Council Grove Lake · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Council Grove Lake is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.9°F and warmest-month mean 79.8°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 79.8°F
- Coldest month
- 29.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Council Grove Lake sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Council Grove Lake's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 62nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 48th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 80%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Council Grove Lake is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Council Grove Lake compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Council Grove Lake's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Council Grove Lake's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 51 complete annual observations from 1966 to 2024, COUNCIL GROVE LAKE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.30°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Council Grove Lake primary station fitted change +0.30 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F (5°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.8" | 4.0" | 29.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 45°F (7°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.3" | 2.9" | 23.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.2" | 1.2" | 16.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 67°F (19°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.4" | 0.2" | 4.2 | 0.3 |
| May | 75°F (24°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 5.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| June | 85°F (30°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.9 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 16.4 |
| August | 89°F (32°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.8 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 5.5 |
| October | 69°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.4" | 0.4" | 3.6 | 0.6 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.7" | 0.5" | 15.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (6°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.1" | 2.8" | 27.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Council Grove Lake works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by July 22 and hold at or above 90°F on 33 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 116 dates, bottoming at 19°F around January 17.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 11 through August 12, covering 33 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 29 to October 14.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 12, then returns to freezing around November 18, covering 116 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 5, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 4 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 90 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Council Grove Lake.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 4.0"
5.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.9"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
9.4 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
7.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
4.8 days with precipitation
Council Grove Lake runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Council Grove Lake's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is May at 5.2", on a wide 49.9°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: May, June, August, taking 41% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.8".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
When it rains in Council Grove Lake, it arrives in quantity
35.0" of precipitation falls across only about 90 wet days here, averaging 0.39 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 90 a year, 25% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.39 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- December, about 5
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Council Grove Lake
Council Grove Lake averages 12.0 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 7 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 12.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 7 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 3% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 11
50% probability date
Growing Season
197 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,948
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,523
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KS closest to Council Grove Lake on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (56°F here).
- Allardt, TN 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Castle Valley, UT 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Hayesville, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Hillsboro, IL 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (35.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Benton Harbor, MI 35.0" · 0.0" off
- Cashton, WI 35.0" · 0.0" off
- Audubon, IA 35.0" · 0.0" off
- Carleton, MI 35.0" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Council Grove Lake
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Council Grove Lake's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,948 annual heating degree days against 1,523 for cooling. Its 49.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Council Grove Lake's frost-free season lasts about 197 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Council Grove Lake coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 30°F (-1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Council Grove Lake typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Council Grove Lake snow peak
January
Council Grove Lake averages 12.0 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Council Grove Lake's climate
How much snow does Council Grove Lake get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Council Grove Lake get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Council Grove Lake? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Council Grove Lake's primary station: COUNCIL GROVE LAKE (USC00141867). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Council Grove Lake; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Council Grove Lake comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.