Crofton, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Crofton's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 29.3 inches of precipitation and 38 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.9°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 745 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCrofton
- Station IDUSC00252037
- Location42.74°N 97.50°W
- Elevation1,400 ft (427 m)
- Population758
On October 22, the normal high in Crofton is 59°F and the normal low 35°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 Crofton.
- Jan 30° 10°
- Feb 35° 14°
- Mar 47° 24°
- Apr 59° 36°
- May 71° 48°
- Jun 81° 59°
- Jul 85° 64°
- Aug 83° 61°
- Sep 76° 53°
- Oct 62° 38°
- Nov 46° 25°
- Dec 34° 14°
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 Crofton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.26 in), the least in January (0.63 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 10°F | 20.2°F | 0.63 | 6.0 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 14°F | 24.4°F | 0.91 | 7.6 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 24°F | 35.7°F | 1.58 | 5.9 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 36°F | 47.5°F | 3.56 | 5.2 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 48°F | 59.2°F | 3.96 | 0.3 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 59°F | 69.8°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 64°F | 74.4°F | 3.30 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 61°F | 72.1°F | 3.13 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 53°F | 64.2°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 38°F | 50.0°F | 2.64 | 0.8 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 25°F | 35.8°F | 1.26 | 5.3 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 14°F | 24.0°F | 0.91 | 7.3 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 37°F | 48.1°F | 29.33 | 38.4 | 93 | 21 | 154 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.6°C | 16 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 23 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 40 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 90 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 15.1°C | 101 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 21.0°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.3°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 10.0°C | 67 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 32 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 1°C | −10°C | −4.4°C | 23 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252037; 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 Crofton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00252037.
When is the last frost in Crofton?
In Crofton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 26 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 301 year in 10 after May 13; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 160 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Crofton in zone 5a in ZIP code 68730, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Crofton's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00252037; 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 Crofton?
In a normal year in Crofton, 21 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 154 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 154a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 53high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1988) is 105°F, on July 12, 1995; the lowest is −32°F, on February 15, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 40.92 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 67.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00252037; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00252037. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Crofton?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Crofton, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.0 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.6 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.2 |
| November | 75% | 2.2 |
| December | 69% | 1.7 |
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 Crofton need?
A normal year in Crofton brings 6,987 heating degree days, 30% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 863 cooling degree days, 5% fewer 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 3,031 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,389 | 0 |
| February | 1,137 | 0 |
| March | 907 | 1 |
| April | 532 | 6 |
| May | 228 | 46 |
| June | 34 | 178 |
| July | 5 | 296 |
| August | 13 | 231 |
| September | 119 | 96 |
| October | 475 | 9 |
| November | 878 | 0 |
| December | 1,271 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,987 | 863 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252037. 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 Crofton been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 50.6°F, 2.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.1°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.5°F | +2.4°F | 23.64 | 25.3 |
| 2022 | 48.5°F | +0.4°F | 17.22 | 22.1 |
| 2023 | 49.5°F | +1.4°F | 32.68 | 65.3 |
| 2024 | 50.6°F | +2.5°F | 29.17 | 30.0 |
Over 35 complete years from 1989 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.6°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00252037; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Crofton's climate compare?
Crofton is warmer than 22 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 96. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.1°F is warmer than 32%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Crofton 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 Crofton share this climate record?
5 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.
- Bloomfield, NE940 people · 12 mi SW
- Tabor, SD400 people · 17 mi NW
- Lesterville, SD114 people · 21 mi N
- Utica, SD70 people · 17 mi N
- Bon Homme Colony, SD0 people · 14 mi NW
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 Crofton's climate
What is the coldest month in Crofton?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Crofton?
Yes: 38 inches in a normal year, falling on 26 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Crofton?
June, with 4.26 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.63 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Crofton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Crofton in zone 5a in ZIP code 68730, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Crofton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Crofton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 13. Waiting until May 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Yankton, SD12 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Hartington, NE14 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Tyndall, SD26 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Osmond, NE27 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made