Estherville, IA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Estherville's primary NOAA station, ESTHERVILLE 4E.
The climate verdict for Estherville
Winter sets the terms in Estherville, Iowa. A pronounced 56.8°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 45°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 45°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 31.7"
- annual precipitation
- 154 days
- frost-free growing season
Estherville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00132724 · Estherville, IA 45°F mean · 31.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,235
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Eau Claire Rgnl
- PRCP-MID 31.7"
- SWING-WIDE 57°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,908 HDD
- STN-1 USC00132724
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Eau Claire Rgnl, WI ( -0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every IA station list.
- Estherville (this station) 45°F
- Cold Eau Claire Rgnl, WI 45°F
- Hot Forest Lake, MN 45°F
- Near Cedar, MN 45°F
- Near Sheldon, IA 45°F
Climate Living Index · Estherville
Estherville: 38/100 · grade F
Estherville publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Estherville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 31.7 in · 3.3 from 35 in | 88/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 171 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 154 days/year | 28/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.8°F · 22.7° from 67.5°F | 19/100 · F |
Estherville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Estherville is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 14.5°F and warmest-month mean 71.3°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 71.3°F
- Coldest month
- 14.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Estherville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Estherville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 82%
- Among 6,861 stations, Estherville sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 42nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 94%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Estherville is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Estherville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Estherville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Estherville's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 80 complete annual observations from 1898 to 2021, ESTHERVILLE 4E warmed at a fitted rate of 0.05°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Estherville primary station fitted change +0.05 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F (-5°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 0.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 28°F (-2°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.8" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 41°F (5°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.4" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.5" | 13.2 | 0.1 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 4.5" | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.9" | 0.0 | 4.2 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.3" | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.5" | 11.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 1.5" | 24.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 29°F (-2°C) | 11°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 1.0" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 171 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 4°F near January 19.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 13, then returns to freezing around October 26, covering 171 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
The widest day
September 23 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Estherville.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Estherville runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Estherville's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 4.8", on a wide 56.8°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, July, taking 42% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.8".
- Winter share: 8% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 3
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 2
50% probability date
Growing Season
154 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,908
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
577
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Estherville on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (45°F here).
- Dannemora, NY 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Hamilton, MT 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Harrison, NE 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Koosharem, UT 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (31.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Buffalo, MN 31.7" · 0.0" off
- Corpus Christi, TX 31.7" · 0.0" off
- Windom, MN 31.7" · 0.0" off
- Rogers City, MI 31.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Estherville's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Estherville logs 7,908 heating degree days, more than twice its 577 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.8°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Estherville's frost-free season lasts about 154 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Estherville's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 56.8°F between them. The annual average is 45°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Estherville's 31.7 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Estherville's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Estherville, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Estherville's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Estherville's primary station: ESTHERVILLE 4E (USC00132724). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 1925860). Match rule for Estherville: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Estherville comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.