NOAA 1991–2020 normals Incorporated place · exact Census match 1 NOAA station · Primary-station record

Cresco, IA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month

Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate

30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Cresco's primary NOAA station, CRESCO 1 NE.

The climate verdict for Cresco

Winter sets the terms in Cresco, Iowa. A pronounced 56.5°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 45°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.

45°F
annual average temperature (NOAA normal): 59/100
comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores: 38.0"
annual precipitation · 40" snow: 146 days
frost-free growing season

Cresco: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.

Normals record plate

Sheet USC00131954 · Cresco, IA 45°F mean · 38.0" precip

TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL

TEMP-COOL 45°F
RANK-COOL #1,304
PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sherburn
PRCP-MID 38.0"
SWING-WIDE 57°F
COMF-MID 59/100
LOAD-HEAT 7,839 HDD
STN-1 USC00131954
BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields

Nearest mean-temperature peer: Sherburn, MN (+ 0 °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 IA station list.

Cresco (this station) 45°F
Cold Forest City, IA 45°F
Hot Circle, MT 45°F
Near Sherburn, MN 45°F
Near Greybull, WY 45°F

Climate Living Index · Cresco

Cresco: 37/100 · grade F

Cresco publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.

37/100Climate Living Index

PlainClimate-derived for Cresco, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.

Cresco Living Index dimension scores
Dimension	Station value	Score
Precipitation balance	38.0 in · 3.0 from 35 in	89/100 · A
Normal heat + freeze calendar	171 calendar days	31/100 · F
Snowfall burden	40.3 inches/year	28/100 · F
Frost-free season	146 days/year	22/100 · F
Annual temperature balance	45.0°F · 22.5° from 67.5°F	20/100 · F

Cresco · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.

Cresco is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb

Coldest-month mean 14.9°F and warmest-month mean 71.4°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.

Köppen code: Dfb
Group: Continental
Warmest month: 71.4°F
Coldest month: 14.9°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 Cresco sits across the climate record

Three NOAA fields for Cresco's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.

Annual temperature: Cooler than 81%; Among 6,861 stations, Cresco sits in the cooler third of annual means.
Annual precipitation: 54th percentile wetness; Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
Seasonal temperature swing: Wider than 94%; Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Cresco is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.

How Cresco compares across U.S. station-mapped locations

Cresco's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations

PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals

59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
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

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more station-mapped locations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Cresco's measured station temperature trend

Methodology

Across 57 complete annual observations from 1945 to 2019, CRESCO 1 NE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.15°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.

Cresco primary station fitted change +0.15 °C/decade

Source: NOAA GHCN-M v4, quality-controlled monthly mean temperature. PlainClimate fits ordinary least squares over complete calendar years; minimum 30 years, record must reach 2015 or later.

Monthly Temperatures

Average daily high and low temperatures by month

Month	Avg High	Avg Low	Mean	Precip	Snow	Freeze Days	90°F+ Days
January	24°F (-4°C)	6°F (-15°C)	15°F (-9°C)	1.1"	9.4"	31.0	0.0
February	29°F (-2°C)	9°F (-13°C)	19°F (-7°C)	1.2"	10.0"	27.4	0.0
March	42°F (5°C)	21°F (-6°C)	32°F (0°C)	1.9"	6.0"	26.2	0.0
April	57°F (14°C)	33°F (0°C)	45°F (7°C)	3.7"	2.4"	14.9	0.0
May	69°F (21°C)	45°F (7°C)	57°F (14°C)	4.5"	0.2"	2.5	0.6
June	79°F (26°C)	56°F (13°C)	68°F (20°C)	6.3"	0.0"	0.0	1.9
July	83°F (28°C)	60°F (16°C)	71°F (22°C)	4.8"	0.0"	0.0	3.2
August	81°F (27°C)	57°F (14°C)	69°F (21°C)	4.6"	0.0"	0.0	1.4
September	74°F (23°C)	48°F (9°C)	61°F (16°C)	3.8"	0.0"	1.3	0.8
October	60°F (16°C)	36°F (2°C)	48°F (9°C)	2.9"	0.2"	12.5	0.0
November	44°F (6°C)	24°F (-4°C)	34°F (1°C)	1.9"	2.6"	23.7	0.0
December	30°F (-1°C)	13°F (-11°C)	22°F (-6°C)	1.4"	9.5"	30.1	0.0

The year, day by day

Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 171 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 4°F near January 26.

Normal daily high and low across the calendar year. NOAA 1991–2020 daily normals, CRESCO 1 NE.

The freezing stretch

The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 13, then returns to freezing around October 26, covering 171 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 28, when 43% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 11 at 24%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 115 wet dates a year.

The widest day

September 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.

Look up any date

Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Cresco.

Month Day

Monthly Precipitation

Average monthly rainfall and snowfall

January 1.1"

Snow: 9.4"

8.3 days with precipitation

February 1.2"

Snow: 10.0"

7.5 days with precipitation

March 1.9"

Snow: 6.0"

8.2 days with precipitation

April 3.7"

Snow: 2.4"

10.3 days with precipitation

May 4.5"

Snow: 0.2"

13.2 days with precipitation

June 6.3"

12.4 days with precipitation

July 4.8"

10.2 days with precipitation

August 4.6"

9.7 days with precipitation

September 3.8"

9.4 days with precipitation

October 2.9"

Snow: 0.2"

9.3 days with precipitation

November 1.9"

Snow: 2.6"

6.9 days with precipitation

December 1.4"

Snow: 9.5"

9.2 days with precipitation

Cresco runs a summer-peaked wet season

41% of Cresco'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 June at 6.3", on a wide 56.5°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: June, July, August, taking 41% of the annual total between them.
Driest month: January at 1.1".
Winter share: 10% 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.

How Cresco's precipitation splits across the calendar

About 115 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 38.0" between them, or roughly 0.33 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.

Wet days a year

115

Wettest month by days

May

Driest month by days

November

A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.

Winter brings real snow to Cresco

Cresco averages 40.3 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 27 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: 40.3 inches of depth.
Days recording measurable snow: about 27 a year.
At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 11% 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 1

50% probability date

Last Spring Freeze

May 8

50% probability date

Growing Season

146 days

Heating & Cooling Degree Days

Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling

Heating Degree Days

7,839

Higher = more heating needed

Cooling Degree Days

590

Higher = more cooling needed

Warmest Month

July

Coldest Month

January

Nationwide similar cities

Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Cresco 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 (45°F here).

Alexandria, SD 45°F · 0.0°F off
Bangor, ME 45°F · 0.0°F off
Busby, MT 45°F · 0.0°F off
Chiloquin, OR 45°F · 0.0°F off

Closest by annual precipitation

Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (38.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.

Garrett, IN 38.0" · 0.0" off
Viroqua, WI 38.0" · 0.0" off
Cottonwood Falls, KS 38.0" · 0.0" off
Princeton, MO 38.0" · 0.0" off

Iowa climate overview →

Snow and freeze rhythm

When cold and snow define Cresco

heating led · moderate · high swing

Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Cresco logs 7,839 heating degree days, more than twice its 590 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.5°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.

Only about 146 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.

1. Cresco coldest normal

January

Averaging 15°F (-9°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
2. Cresco typical freeze period

January through December

The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
3. Cresco snow peak

February

Cresco averages 40.3 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.

Questions about Cresco's climate

How much snow does Cresco get? ▼

Cresco averages 40.3 inches of snow a year, most of it in February, within 38.0 inches of total precipitation. Snowfall is depth on the ground; the precipitation total counts its liquid equivalent, so the two are not additive.

How cold does Cresco get in winter? ▼

Cresco records about 170 days a year with a low at or below freezing, with January the coldest month on the normals, and an annual average daily low of 34°F.

How much energy does heating and cooling require in Cresco? ▼

Cresco has 7,839 heating degree days and 590 cooling degree days annually, a heating-dominated climate. Degree-day definitions: reading weather data.

Data Sources

Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Cresco's primary station: CRESCO 1 NE (USC00131954). For informational purposes only.

Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 1917220). Match rule for Cresco: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.

Iowa climate →

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainClimate

Compiled by PlainClimate, Climate normals data publisher

On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Cresco 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.