Fairbury, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fairbury's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 32.4 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.9°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 823 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFairbury (5 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00252820
- Location40.07°N 97.17°W
- Elevation1,350 ft (412 m)
- Population3,858
On October 23, the normal high in Fairbury is 64°F and the normal low 37°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 Fairbury.
- Jan 36° 14°
- Feb 41° 18°
- Mar 53° 28°
- Apr 64° 38°
- May 74° 49°
- Jun 84° 60°
- Jul 88° 65°
- Aug 86° 63°
- Sep 80° 53°
- Oct 67° 40°
- Nov 52° 28°
- Dec 40° 18°
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 Fairbury each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.10 in), the least in January (0.77 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 14°F | 25.1°F | 0.77 | 5.7 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 41°F | 18°F | 29.4°F | 0.96 | 5.6 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 28°F | 40.3°F | 1.70 | 2.4 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 38°F | 50.7°F | 2.96 | 0.8 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 49°F | 61.5°F | 5.10 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 60°F | 71.9°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 88°F | 65°F | 76.6°F | 4.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 86°F | 63°F | 74.5°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 53°F | 66.4°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 40°F | 53.6°F | 2.39 | 0.4 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 28°F | 39.8°F | 1.45 | 2.4 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 18°F | 29.0°F | 1.08 | 3.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 39°F | 51.6°F | 32.39 | 20.7 | 91 | 42 | 144 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 20 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 5°C | −8°C | −1.4°C | 24 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 4.6°C | 43 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 18°C | 3°C | 10.4°C | 75 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 18°C | 24.8°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 19.1°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.0°C | 61 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 37 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 4°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 27 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252820; 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 Fairbury?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00252820.
When is the last frost in Fairbury?
In Fairbury, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 25 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 15 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 251 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 151 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 169 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 190 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fairbury in zone 6a in ZIP code 68352, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fairbury's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (26 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00252820; 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 Fairbury?
In a normal year in Fairbury, 42 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 144 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 42a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 144a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 114°F, on July 17, 1936; the lowest is −42°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 48.37 in; the snowiest season is 1914–15, with 60.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00252820; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00252820. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fairbury?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fairbury, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and March the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.3 |
| February | 74% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 78% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 1.9 |
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 Fairbury need?
A normal year in Fairbury brings 5,966 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,102 cooling degree days, 21% 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 3,501 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,237 | 0 |
| February | 997 | 0 |
| March | 767 | 1 |
| April | 437 | 8 |
| May | 173 | 63 |
| June | 19 | 226 |
| July | 3 | 362 |
| August | 6 | 299 |
| September | 87 | 128 |
| October | 371 | 16 |
| November | 755 | 0 |
| December | 1,116 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,966 | 1,102 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252820. 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 Fairbury been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.3°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.0°F | +1.4°F | 27.86 | 19.3 |
| 2022 | 50.8°F | −0.8°F | 25.28 | 16.9 |
| 2023 | 53.2°F | +1.6°F | 22.05 | 11.0 |
| 2024 | 53.8°F | +2.2°F | 27.78 | 12.3 |
| 2025 | 52.3°F | +0.7°F | 25.90 | 18.9 |
Over 105 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00252820; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fairbury's climate compare?
Fairbury is warmer than 117 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 116. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.6°F is warmer than 48%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fairbury 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 Fairbury share this climate record?
10 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.
- Hanover, KS696 people · 20 mi SE
- Morrowville, KS116 people · 16 mi S
- Endicott, NE113 people · 4 mi E
- Haddam, KS108 people · 17 mi SW
- Jansen, NE100 people · 9 mi NE
- Narka, KS80 people · 16 mi SW
- Reynolds, NE60 people · 9 mi W
- Harbine, NE52 people · 13 mi NE
- Mahaska, KS44 people · 12 mi SW
- Hollenberg, KS12 people · 11 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 Fairbury's climate
What is the coldest month in Fairbury?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Fairbury?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Fairbury?
May, with 5.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.77 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fairbury in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fairbury in zone 6a in ZIP code 68352, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fairbury's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Fairbury?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 25; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Washington, KS19 miles from this station, 52.8°F a year
- Hebron, NE24 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Beatrice, NE27 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Belleville, KS30 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made