Crete, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Crete's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 31.0 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.6°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 788 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCrete (4 mi ESE)
- Station IDUSC00252020
- Location40.61°N 96.87°W
- Elevation1,460 ft (445 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population7,580
On October 23, the normal high in Crete is 63°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Crete.
- Jan 34° 14°
- Feb 40° 18°
- Mar 52° 28°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 73° 50°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 87° 65°
- Aug 85° 63°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 51° 28°
- Dec 38° 18°
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 Crete each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.65 in), the least in January (0.69 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 14°F | 24.0°F | 0.69 | 6.3 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 18°F | 28.9°F | 0.81 | 6.6 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 28°F | 39.7°F | 1.45 | 3.2 | 6 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 51.1°F | 2.58 | 1.3 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 50°F | 61.6°F | 5.65 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 71.6°F | 4.86 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 65°F | 75.7°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 63°F | 73.7°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 10 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 66.2°F | 3.11 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.6°F | 2.32 | 1.0 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 28°F | 39.6°F | 1.22 | 2.0 | 5 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 18°F | 27.8°F | 1.14 | 4.9 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 31.02 | 25.3 | 92 | 37 | 133 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −10°C | −4.4°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 21 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 37 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 66 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 144 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.0°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 19.0°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.0°C | 59 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.2°C | 31 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.3°C | 29 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252020; 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 Crete?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, 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 USC00252020.
When is the last frost in Crete?
In Crete, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 23 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 28 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 231 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 170 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Crete in zone 6a in ZIP code 68333, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Crete's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (17 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00252020; 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 Crete?
In a normal year in Crete, 37 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 133 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 92 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 37a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 133a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 92a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 114°F, on July 25, 1936; the lowest is −27°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 46.19 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 59.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00252020; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00252020. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Crete?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Crete, 4.3 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 | 73% | 2.2 |
| February | 74% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.4 |
| November | 77% | 2.4 |
| December | 72% | 1.9 |
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 Crete need?
A normal year in Crete brings 6,061 heating degree days, 13% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,039 cooling degree days, 15% 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 3,441 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,271 | 0 |
| February | 1,012 | 0 |
| March | 784 | 1 |
| April | 427 | 9 |
| May | 169 | 64 |
| June | 19 | 217 |
| July | 3 | 335 |
| August | 5 | 275 |
| September | 85 | 123 |
| October | 370 | 16 |
| November | 764 | 0 |
| December | 1,151 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,061 | 1,039 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252020. 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 Crete been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.9°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.2°F | +2.1°F | 29.87 | 32.0 |
| 2022 | 52.5°F | +1.4°F | 17.79 | 8.2 |
| 2023 | 53.8°F | +2.7°F | 26.05 | 20.3 |
| 2024 | 54.8°F | +3.7°F | 23.36 | 14.7 |
| 2025 | 52.9°F | +1.8°F | 24.72 | 10.8 |
Over 92 complete years from 1884 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00252020; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Crete's climate compare?
Crete is warmer than 101 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 107. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.1°F is warmer than 45%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Crete 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 Crete share this climate record?
12 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.
- Hickman, NE3,285 people · 13 mi E
- Wilber, NE1,952 people · 10 mi SW
- Firth, NE649 people · 15 mi E
- Cortland, NE515 people · 11 mi SE
- Hallam, NE315 people · 7 mi SE
- Clatonia, NE263 people · 10 mi S
- Roca, NE208 people · 12 mi E
- Denton, NE190 people · 9 mi N
- Sprague, NE135 people · 7 mi E
- Princeton, NE130 people · 9 mi E
- Martell, NE124 people · 6 mi E
- Kramer, NE8 people · 1 mi S
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 Crete's climate
What is the coldest month in Crete?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Crete?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Crete?
May, with 5.65 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.69 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Crete in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Crete in zone 6a in ZIP code 68333, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Crete's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Crete?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 23; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lincoln, NE18 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Friend, NE19 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Beatrice, NE22 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Seward, NE23 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made