El Dorado, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
El Dorado's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 52.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.9°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,324 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEl Dorado S Ar Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00093992
- Location33.22°N 92.81°W
- Elevation252 ft (77 m)
- Population16,657
On October 14, the normal high in El Dorado is 79°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for El Dorado.
- Jan 56° 34°
- Feb 60° 37°
- Mar 69° 44°
- Apr 76° 51°
- May 84° 61°
- Jun 91° 68°
- Jul 94° 71°
- Aug 94° 70°
- Sep 88° 63°
- Oct 78° 52°
- Nov 66° 42°
- Dec 58° 36°
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 El Dorado each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.61 in), the least in September (3.23 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 4.39 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 37°F | 48.5°F | 4.47 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 44°F | 56.3°F | 5.10 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 76°F | 51°F | 63.9°F | 5.39 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 4.81 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 91°F | 68°F | 79.3°F | 3.88 | 9 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 94°F | 71°F | 82.4°F | 3.43 | 8 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 94°F | 70°F | 81.8°F | 3.40 | 7 | 24 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 88°F | 63°F | 75.8°F | 3.23 | 6 | 14 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 78°F | 52°F | 64.6°F | 4.58 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 3.83 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 36°F | 46.8°F | 5.61 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 52°F | 64.2°F | 52.12 | 104 | 88 | 53 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 112 mm |
| February | 16°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 114 mm |
| March | 20°C | 7°C | 13.5°C | 130 mm |
| April | 25°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 137 mm |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 122 mm |
| June | 33°C | 20°C | 26.3°C | 99 mm |
| July | 34°C | 22°C | 28.0°C | 87 mm |
| August | 34°C | 21°C | 27.7°C | 86 mm |
| September | 31°C | 17°C | 24.3°C | 82 mm |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 18.1°C | 116 mm |
| November | 19°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 97 mm |
| December | 14°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 142 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Calion (20 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093992; 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 El Dorado?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. 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 USW00093992.
When is the last frost in El Dorado?
In El Dorado, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 24 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 7 in half of years and before October 24 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
- March 241 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after March 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 71 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 230 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 257 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts El Dorado in zone 8b in ZIP code 71730, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, El Dorado's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093992; 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 El Dorado?
In a normal year in El Dorado, 88 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 53 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 88a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 53a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 112°F, on August 10, 1936; the lowest is −10°F, on January 12, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1974, with 77.87 in; the snowiest season is 1947–48, with 13.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093992; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093992. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is El Dorado, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 70°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 72°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (36°F). March is the windiest month (6.9 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (77%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 71% | 47% | 5.9 mph | 57% | 33% |
| February | 40°F | 68% | 47% | 6.6 mph | 56% | 32% |
| March | 49°F | 69% | 46% | 6.9 mph | 57% | 29% |
| April | 57°F | 73% | 50% | 6.3 mph | 60% | 22% |
| May | 67°F | 77% | 56% | 5.1 mph | 62% | 16% |
| June | 71°F | 76% | 54% | 4.6 mph | 70% | 10% |
| July | 72°F | 75% | 51% | 4.3 mph | 74% | 8% |
| August | 69°F | 74% | 49% | 4.3 mph | 73% | 10% |
| September | 59°F | 73% | 46% | 4.5 mph | 77% | 12% |
| October | 50°F | 77% | 50% | 4.9 mph | 65% | 22% |
| November | 41°F | 75% | 50% | 5.5 mph | 60% | 29% |
| December | 36°F | 74% | 53% | 5.8 mph | 56% | 33% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093992. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is El Dorado?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around El Dorado, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (83%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.6 |
| February | 64% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 4.2 |
| April | 75% | 5.3 |
| May | 77% | 5.9 |
| June | 83% | 6.5 |
| July | 83% | 6.3 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 4.0 |
| November | 75% | 2.9 |
| December | 69% | 2.3 |
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 El Dorado need?
A normal year in El Dorado brings 2,558 heating degree days, 52% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,283 cooling degree days, 2.5 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,854 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 630 | 3 |
| February | 467 | 6 |
| March | 293 | 25 |
| April | 111 | 77 |
| May | 17 | 234 |
| June | 0 | 428 |
| July | 0 | 541 |
| August | 0 | 522 |
| September | 7 | 331 |
| October | 112 | 98 |
| November | 351 | 15 |
| December | 569 | 5 |
| Year (annual) | 2,558 | 2,283 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093992. 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 El Dorado been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 65.2°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.2°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.2°F | at normal | 49.27 |
| 2022 | 63.6°F | −0.6°F | 50.41 |
| 2023 | 65.4°F | +1.2°F | 57.11 |
| 2025 | 65.2°F | +1.0°F | 45.54 |
Over 87 complete years from 1905 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093992; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does El Dorado's climate compare?
El Dorado is warmer than 83 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 51. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.2°F is warmer than 86%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, El Dorado is Cfa: temperate, 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 El Dorado share this climate record?
7 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.
- Smackover, AR1,573 people · 11 mi NE
- Junction City, AR480 people · 15 mi S
- Junction City, LA416 people · 16 mi S
- Louann, AR148 people · 12 mi N
- Spearsville, LA121 people · 23 mi SE
- Lillie, LA114 people · 23 mi SE
- Mount Holly, AR19 people · 10 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 El Dorado's climate
What is the coldest month in El Dorado?
January, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow in El Dorado?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for El Dorado's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Calion (20 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in El Dorado?
December, with 5.61 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 3.23 in.
What plant hardiness zone is El Dorado in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts El Dorado in zone 8b in ZIP code 71730, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at El Dorado's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in El Dorado?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 24; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- El Dorado in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Calion, AR20 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Magnolia, AR21 miles from this station, 62.6°F a year
- Camden, AR25 miles from this station, 62.4°F a year
- Homer, LA32 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made