Elkhart, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Elkhart's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 18.4 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.3°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 34°C, 467 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElkhart
- Station IDUSC00142432
- Location37.01°N 101.89°W
- Elevation3,599 ft (1,097 m)
- Population1,726
On October 23, the normal high in Elkhart is 68°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Elkhart.
- Jan 48° 21°
- Feb 52° 23°
- Mar 60° 31°
- Apr 69° 39°
- May 79° 50°
- Jun 89° 60°
- Jul 93° 65°
- Aug 91° 63°
- Sep 84° 55°
- Oct 71° 42°
- Nov 58° 31°
- Dec 48° 23°
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 Elkhart each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.95 in), the least in February (0.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 21°F | 34.5°F | 0.43 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 23°F | 37.3°F | 0.31 | 2.1 | 3 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 31°F | 45.7°F | 1.00 | 3.5 | 4 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 39°F | 54.0°F | 1.86 | 0.4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 50°F | 64.2°F | 2.22 | 0.8 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 89°F | 60°F | 74.7°F | 2.55 | 0.0 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 93°F | 65°F | 79.2°F | 2.94 | 0.0 | 8 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 91°F | 63°F | 77.0°F | 2.95 | 0.0 | 7 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 84°F | 55°F | 69.1°F | 1.24 | 0.0 | 4 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 42°F | 56.6°F | 1.67 | 0.7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 31°F | 44.8°F | 0.49 | 1.2 | 3 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 23°F | 35.3°F | 0.74 | 4.7 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 42°F | 56.0°F | 18.40 | 17.6 | 57 | 75 | 121 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −6°C | 1.4°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 11°C | −5°C | 2.9°C | 8 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 16°C | −1°C | 7.6°C | 25 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 20°C | 4°C | 12.2°C | 47 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 26°C | 10°C | 17.9°C | 56 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 32°C | 16°C | 23.7°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 18°C | 26.2°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 17°C | 25.0°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 13°C | 20.6°C | 31 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 5°C | 13.7°C | 42 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 15°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 12 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 9°C | −5°C | 1.8°C | 19 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142432; 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 Elkhart?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00142432.
When is the last frost in Elkhart?
In Elkhart, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 9 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 191 year in 10 after May 2; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 186 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 207 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elkhart in zone 6b in ZIP code 67950, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Elkhart's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00142432; 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 Elkhart?
In a normal year in Elkhart, 75 days a year reach 90°F (13 of them 100°F or more), 121 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 75a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 13a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 121a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1900) is 110°F, on June 27, 1980; the lowest is −22°F, on January 19, 1984.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 29.74 in; the snowiest season is 1902–03, with 59.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00142432; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00142432. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Elkhart?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Elkhart, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (90%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.8 |
| February | 76% | 3.5 |
| March | 80% | 4.9 |
| April | 80% | 6.0 |
| May | 83% | 6.9 |
| June | 89% | 7.5 |
| July | 90% | 7.3 |
| August | 88% | 6.5 |
| September | 88% | 5.4 |
| October | 83% | 4.1 |
| November | 83% | 3.1 |
| December | 79% | 2.5 |
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 Elkhart need?
A normal year in Elkhart brings 4,659 heating degree days, 13% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,425 cooling degree days, 57% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,107 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 945 | 0 |
| February | 774 | 0 |
| March | 600 | 2 |
| April | 342 | 12 |
| May | 119 | 96 |
| June | 10 | 300 |
| July | 1 | 440 |
| August | 3 | 375 |
| September | 51 | 175 |
| October | 285 | 25 |
| November | 608 | 1 |
| December | 920 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,659 | 1,425 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142432. 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 Elkhart been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 57.3°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 56.0°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 55.7°F | −0.3°F | 11.19 | 16.0 |
| 2023 | 56.4°F | +0.4°F | 21.98 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 58.3°F | +2.3°F | 19.99 | 10.0 |
| 2025 | 57.3°F | +1.3°F | 17.46 | 9.8 |
Over 60 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°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 USC00142432; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Elkhart's climate compare?
Elkhart is warmer than 106 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 6. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.0°F is warmer than 64%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Elkhart is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Elkhart share this climate record?
Hough has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Hough, OK21 people · 20 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 Elkhart's climate
What is the coldest month in Elkhart?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Elkhart?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (4.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Elkhart?
August, with 2.95 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Elkhart in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Elkhart in zone 6b in ZIP code 67950, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Elkhart's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Elkhart?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 2. Waiting until May 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Richfield, KS19 miles from this station, 55.5°F a year
- Guymon, OK31 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- Hugoton, KS32 miles from this station, 55.5°F a year
- Goodwell, OK32 miles from this station, 56.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made