Emmetsburg, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Emmetsburg's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 33.6 inches of precipitation and 37 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.5°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 29°C, 853 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEmmetsburg
- Station IDUSC00132689
- Location43.10°N 94.68°W
- Elevation1,225 ft (373 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population3,632
On October 23, the normal high in Emmetsburg is 59°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Emmetsburg.
- Jan 26° 7°
- Feb 31° 12°
- Mar 44° 24°
- Apr 59° 36°
- May 71° 49°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 85° 63°
- Aug 82° 60°
- Sep 76° 51°
- Oct 63° 38°
- Nov 46° 26°
- Dec 32° 14°
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 Emmetsburg each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.54 in), the least in January (0.68 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 7°F | 16.8°F | 0.68 | 8.0 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 12°F | 21.4°F | 0.93 | 8.2 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 24°F | 33.8°F | 1.78 | 5.9 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 36°F | 47.4°F | 3.70 | 2.6 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 49°F | 59.8°F | 4.49 | 0.1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.4°F | 5.54 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 63°F | 74.1°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 82°F | 60°F | 71.3°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 51°F | 63.5°F | 3.40 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 38°F | 50.5°F | 2.37 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 26°F | 35.5°F | 1.46 | 4.9 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 32°F | 14°F | 22.8°F | 1.06 | 7.1 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 37°F | 47.3°F | 33.59 | 37.1 | 96 | 15 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −14°C | −8.4°C | 17 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 0°C | −11°C | −5.9°C | 24 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 7°C | −5°C | 1.0°C | 45 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 94 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 60 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 37 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 0°C | −10°C | −5.1°C | 27 mm | 18 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00132689; 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 Emmetsburg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00132689.
When is the last frost in Emmetsburg?
In Emmetsburg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 23 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 9; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Emmetsburg in zone 5a in ZIP code 50536, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Emmetsburg's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (16 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 USC00132689; 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 Emmetsburg?
In a normal year in Emmetsburg, 15 days a year reach 90°F, 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 15a 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
- 66high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 106°F, on July 26, 1894; the lowest is −29°F, on January 10, 1982.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 45.15 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 67.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00132689; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00132689. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Emmetsburg?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Emmetsburg, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 1.9 |
| February | 77% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 2.9 |
| November | 70% | 2.0 |
| December | 66% | 1.5 |
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 Emmetsburg need?
A normal year in Emmetsburg brings 7,250 heating degree days, 35% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 826 cooling degree days, 9% 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 3,001 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,494 | 0 |
| February | 1,222 | 0 |
| March | 967 | 0 |
| April | 534 | 6 |
| May | 211 | 52 |
| June | 27 | 189 |
| July | 4 | 284 |
| August | 12 | 207 |
| September | 127 | 80 |
| October | 459 | 8 |
| November | 885 | 0 |
| December | 1,308 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,250 | 826 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00132689. 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 Emmetsburg been warmer than normal lately?
Over 41 complete years from 1952 to 2016, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.5°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Emmetsburg's climate compare?
Emmetsburg is warmer than 54 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.3°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Emmetsburg 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 Emmetsburg 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.
- Graettinger, IA810 people · 10 mi N
- Ruthven, IA710 people · 11 mi W
- Mallard, IA255 people · 11 mi S
- Ayrshire, IA128 people · 9 mi SW
- Cylinder, IA84 people · 7 mi E
- Curlew, IA38 people · 9 mi S
- Rodman, IA28 people · 9 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 Emmetsburg's climate
What is the coldest month in Emmetsburg?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Emmetsburg?
Yes: 37 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Emmetsburg?
June, with 5.54 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.68 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Emmetsburg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Emmetsburg in zone 5a in ZIP code 50536, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Emmetsburg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Emmetsburg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Estherville, IA21 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Algona, IA24 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Sioux Rapids, IA24 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Pocahontas, IA26 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made