Eldora, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Eldora's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 37.9 inches of precipitation and 33 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 29°C, 961 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEldora
- Station IDUSC00132573
- Location42.37°N 93.10°W
- Elevation1,073 ft (327 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,595
On October 23, the normal high in Eldora is 58°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Eldora.
- Jan 26° 8°
- Feb 31° 13°
- Mar 44° 24°
- Apr 59° 35°
- May 70° 48°
- Jun 80° 59°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 82° 59°
- Sep 76° 51°
- Oct 62° 38°
- Nov 45° 26°
- Dec 32° 15°
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 Eldora each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.88 in), the least in January (1.06 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 8°F | 17.1°F | 1.06 | 8.1 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 13°F | 21.6°F | 1.21 | 8.8 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 24°F | 34.1°F | 2.09 | 4.0 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 35°F | 47.0°F | 3.95 | 1.4 | 11 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 48°F | 59.2°F | 5.21 | 0.4 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 59°F | 69.4°F | 5.88 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 72.7°F | 4.06 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 82°F | 59°F | 70.4°F | 4.53 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 51°F | 63.0°F | 3.56 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 38°F | 50.0°F | 2.80 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 1.88 | 1.8 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 32°F | 15°F | 23.3°F | 1.62 | 8.4 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 37°F | 46.9°F | 37.85 | 33.2 | 112 | 16 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −8.3°C | 27 mm | 21 cm |
| February | −1°C | −11°C | −5.8°C | 31 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.2°C | 53 mm | 10 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 100 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 15.1°C | 132 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 149 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 10.0°C | 71 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 48 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 0°C | −9°C | −4.8°C | 41 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00132573; 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 Eldora?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00132573.
When is the last frost in Eldora?
In Eldora, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 27 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 271 year in 10 after May 8; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 186 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Eldora in zone 5a in ZIP code 50627, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Eldora's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00132573; 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 Eldora?
In a normal year in Eldora, 16 days a year reach 90°F, 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 65high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 108°F, on August 16, 1988; the lowest is −30°F, on February 9, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 54.40 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 58.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00132573; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00132573. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Eldora?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Eldora, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.9 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 71% | 2.1 |
| December | 66% | 1.6 |
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 Eldora need?
A normal year in Eldora brings 7,269 heating degree days, 35% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 727 cooling degree days, 20% 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 2,861 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,485 | 0 |
| February | 1,214 | 0 |
| March | 958 | 0 |
| April | 543 | 3 |
| May | 223 | 43 |
| June | 32 | 166 |
| July | 6 | 245 |
| August | 17 | 186 |
| September | 134 | 74 |
| October | 475 | 9 |
| November | 888 | 0 |
| December | 1,293 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,269 | 727 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00132573. 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 Eldora been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 45.8°F, 1.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 46.9°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 45.8°F | −1.1°F | 30.94 | 31.2 |
Over 55 complete years from 1959 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.4°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00132573; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Eldora's climate compare?
Eldora is warmer than 41 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 89. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.9°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Eldora 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 Eldora 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.
- Hubbard, IA837 people · 11 mi W
- Union, IA378 people · 9 mi S
- Steamboat Rock, IA261 people · 3 mi NE
- New Providence, IA233 people · 7 mi SW
- Whitten, IA98 people · 8 mi SE
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 Eldora's climate
What is the coldest month in Eldora?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Eldora?
Yes: 33 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Eldora?
June, with 5.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.06 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Eldora in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Eldora in zone 5a in ZIP code 50627, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Eldora's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Eldora?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 8. Waiting until May 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Iowa Falls, IA13 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Grundy Center, IA17 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Marshalltown, IA20 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Colo, IA27 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made