Elk City, Oklahoma climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Elk City's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 29.5 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.6°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 35°C, 750 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElk City (4 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00342849
- Location35.39°N 99.51°W
- Elevation2,120 ft (646 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population11,383
On October 23, the normal high in Elk City is 71°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Elk City.
- Jan 50° 26°
- Feb 55° 29°
- Mar 64° 37°
- Apr 72° 46°
- May 81° 56°
- Jun 89° 65°
- Jul 95° 70°
- Aug 94° 68°
- Sep 85° 61°
- Oct 74° 48°
- Nov 61° 37°
- Dec 51° 29°
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 Elk City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.45 in), the least in January (0.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50°F | 26°F | 38.2°F | 0.88 | 2.7 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 29°F | 41.8°F | 1.00 | 2.2 | 4 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 64°F | 37°F | 50.6°F | 2.10 | 0.7 | 6 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 2.74 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 56°F | 68.4°F | 4.45 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 65°F | 77.3°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 95°F | 70°F | 82.1°F | 2.48 | 0.0 | 6 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 94°F | 68°F | 80.9°F | 3.70 | 0.0 | 8 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 61°F | 73.0°F | 2.80 | 0.0 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 48°F | 61.0°F | 2.90 | 0.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 37°F | 49.1°F | 1.42 | 0.5 | 5 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 51°F | 29°F | 39.8°F | 1.28 | 2.4 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 48°F | 60.1°F | 29.52 | 8.6 | 75 | 78 | 84 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | −3°C | 3.4°C | 22 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 13°C | −2°C | 5.4°C | 25 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 18°C | 3°C | 10.3°C | 53 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 13°C | 20.2°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 19°C | 25.2°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 21°C | 27.8°C | 63 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 20°C | 27.2°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 3°C | 9.5°C | 36 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 33 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00342849; 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 Elk City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00342849.
When is the last frost in Elk City?
In Elk City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 2 in half of years and before October 19 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 51 year in 10 after April 24; 9 in 10 after March 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 21 year in 10 before October 19; 9 in 10 before November 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 231 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 25 in half of springs and before November 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elk City in zone 7b in ZIP code 73644, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Elk City's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Oklahoma · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00342849; 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 Elk City?
In a normal year in Elk City, 78 days a year reach 90°F (14 of them 100°F or more), 84 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 75 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 78a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 84a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 8high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 75a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1904) is 114°F, on July 19, 2022; the lowest is −12°F, on January 18, 1930.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1997, with 47.20 in; the snowiest season is 1987–88, with 29.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00342849; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00342849. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Elk City?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Elk City, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (77%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 82% | 3.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.7 |
| March | 79% | 4.9 |
| April | 80% | 6.0 |
| May | 80% | 6.5 |
| June | 87% | 7.3 |
| July | 88% | 7.1 |
| August | 87% | 6.4 |
| September | 86% | 5.3 |
| October | 82% | 4.1 |
| November | 82% | 3.2 |
| December | 79% | 2.6 |
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 Elk City need?
A normal year in Elk City brings 3,653 heating degree days, 32% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,908 cooling degree days, 2.1 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,994 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 829 | 0 |
| February | 651 | 1 |
| March | 451 | 7 |
| April | 212 | 31 |
| May | 52 | 157 |
| June | 2 | 369 |
| July | 0 | 532 |
| August | 0 | 495 |
| September | 19 | 261 |
| October | 177 | 54 |
| November | 480 | 3 |
| December | 779 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,653 | 1,908 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00342849. 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 Elk City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.6°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 60.1°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.7°F | +0.6°F | 26.16 | – |
| 2022 | 61.3°F | +1.2°F | 20.67 | – |
| 2023 | 61.8°F | +1.7°F | – | – |
| 2025 | 61.6°F | +1.5°F | 27.05 | – |
Over 57 complete years from 1927 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.2°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00342849; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Elk City's climate compare?
Elk City is warmer than 58 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Oklahoma, and wetter than 23. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.1°F is warmer than 75%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Elk City 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 Elk City share this climate record?
2 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.
- Sayre, OK4,841 people · 10 mi SW
- Carter, OK180 people · 12 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 Elk City's climate
What is the coldest month in Elk City?
January, with a normal high of 50°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Elk City?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Elk City?
May, with 4.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Elk City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Elk City in zone 7b in ZIP code 73644, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Elk City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Elk City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 24. Waiting until April 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oklahoma climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hammon, OK15 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Cheyenne, OK16 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Butler, OK19 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Erick, OK24 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made