Ellsworth, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ellsworth's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 30.8 inches of precipitation and 16 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.6°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 34°C, 783 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEllsworth
- Station IDUSC00142459
- Location38.73°N 98.22°W
- Elevation1,568 ft (478 m)
- Population3,116
On October 23, the normal high in Ellsworth is 67°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ellsworth.
- Jan 42° 18°
- Feb 47° 20°
- Mar 57° 30°
- Apr 68° 39°
- May 77° 52°
- Jun 88° 63°
- Jul 93° 67°
- Aug 90° 65°
- Sep 82° 56°
- Oct 70° 42°
- Nov 56° 29°
- Dec 44° 20°
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 Ellsworth each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.94 in), the least in January (0.83 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 18°F | 29.9°F | 0.83 | 3.8 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 47°F | 20°F | 33.5°F | 1.16 | 4.7 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 30°F | 43.5°F | 1.94 | 1.3 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 39°F | 53.3°F | 2.51 | 0.4 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 52°F | 64.2°F | 4.94 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 88°F | 63°F | 75.0°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 93°F | 67°F | 80.0°F | 3.88 | 0.0 | 8 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 65°F | 77.6°F | 4.43 | 0.0 | 7 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 56°F | 69.1°F | 2.70 | 0.0 | 5 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 42°F | 56.0°F | 2.13 | 0.4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 29°F | 42.7°F | 1.30 | 1.2 | 4 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 20°F | 32.1°F | 1.16 | 4.4 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 42°F | 54.7°F | 30.84 | 16.2 | 70 | 63 | 137 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −8°C | −1.2°C | 21 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 0.8°C | 29 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 14°C | −1°C | 6.4°C | 49 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 20°C | 4°C | 11.8°C | 64 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 17°C | 23.9°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 20°C | 26.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 18°C | 25.3°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 13°C | 20.6°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 5°C | 13.3°C | 54 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 33 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 7°C | −7°C | 0.1°C | 29 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142459; 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 Ellsworth?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00142459.
When is the last frost in Ellsworth?
In Ellsworth, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 23 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before September 30 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 231 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ellsworth in zone 6b in ZIP code 67439, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ellsworth's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (17 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 USC00142459; 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 Ellsworth?
In a normal year in Ellsworth, 63 days a year reach 90°F (11 of them 100°F or more), 137 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 70 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 63a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 137a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 24high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 70a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1904) is 117°F, on August 13, 1936; the lowest is −30°F, on January 8, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 55.57 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 59.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00142459; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00142459. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ellsworth?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ellsworth, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and February the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.5 |
| February | 74% | 3.3 |
| March | 75% | 4.4 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.3 |
| June | 85% | 7.1 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 84% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 3.7 |
| November | 80% | 2.8 |
| December | 76% | 2.2 |
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 Ellsworth need?
A normal year in Ellsworth brings 5,207 heating degree days, 3% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,507 cooling degree days, 66% more 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 4,097 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,090 | 0 |
| February | 883 | 0 |
| March | 668 | 2 |
| April | 367 | 16 |
| May | 128 | 103 |
| June | 9 | 311 |
| July | 1 | 467 |
| August | 2 | 394 |
| September | 61 | 184 |
| October | 309 | 30 |
| November | 669 | 1 |
| December | 1,021 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,207 | 1,507 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142459. 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 Ellsworth been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 56.7°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.7°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.3°F | +1.6°F | 22.91 | 7.0 |
| 2022 | 55.1°F | +0.4°F | 23.55 | 16.0 |
| 2023 | 56.7°F | +2.0°F | 23.44 | 10.0 |
Over 82 complete years from 1906 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.7°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00142459; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ellsworth's climate compare?
Ellsworth is warmer than 59 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 66. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.7°F is warmer than 59%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ellsworth 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 Ellsworth share this climate record?
4 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.
- Holyrood, KS385 people · 14 mi SW
- Bushton, KS197 people · 18 mi SW
- Lorraine, KS130 people · 12 mi SW
- Frederick, KS8 people · 15 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 Ellsworth's climate
What is the coldest month in Ellsworth?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Ellsworth?
Yes: 16 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (4.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Ellsworth?
May, with 4.94 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.83 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ellsworth in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ellsworth in zone 6b in ZIP code 67439, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Ellsworth's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Ellsworth?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 23; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kanopolis, KS17 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Lincoln (1 mi SE), KS21 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Wilson, KS22 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Smolan, KS30 miles from this station, 54.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made