Fairmont, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fairmont's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 27.3 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.2°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 692 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFairmont
- Station IDUSC00252840
- Location40.64°N 97.59°W
- Elevation1,640 ft (500 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population578
On October 23, the normal high in Fairmont is 62°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fairmont.
- Jan 35° 13°
- Feb 39° 17°
- Mar 52° 27°
- Apr 63° 37°
- May 73° 49°
- Jun 84° 59°
- Jul 87° 64°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 79° 52°
- Oct 65° 39°
- Nov 51° 26°
- Dec 38° 17°
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 Fairmont each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.39 in), the least in January (0.63 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 13°F | 23.8°F | 0.63 | 7.6 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 17°F | 27.9°F | 0.73 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 27°F | 39.1°F | 1.34 | 3.6 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 37°F | 49.7°F | 2.32 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 49°F | 61.1°F | 4.39 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 59°F | 71.5°F | 4.18 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 64°F | 75.4°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 73.1°F | 3.66 | 0.0 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 52°F | 65.3°F | 2.63 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 39°F | 52.3°F | 2.02 | 0.9 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 26°F | 38.4°F | 1.19 | 1.8 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 17°F | 27.7°F | 0.79 | 3.9 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 38°F | 50.4°F | 27.26 | 24.7 | 81 | 34 | 147 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −10°C | −4.6°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| February | 4°C | −9°C | −2.3°C | 19 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.9°C | 34 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 59 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.2°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 15°C | 21.9°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.5°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 4°C | 11.3°C | 51 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −3°C | 3.6°C | 30 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.4°C | 20 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252840; 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 Fairmont?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00252840.
When is the last frost in Fairmont?
In Fairmont, 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 14 in half of years and before September 29 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 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 170 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fairmont in zone 5b in ZIP code 68354, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fairmont's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (17 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 USC00252840; 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 Fairmont?
In a normal year in Fairmont, 34 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 147 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 147a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 42high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 112°F, on July 25, 1936; the lowest is −34°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 42.36 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 60.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00252840; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00252840. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fairmont?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fairmont, 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 Fairmont need?
A normal year in Fairmont brings 6,252 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 985 cooling degree days, 8% 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 3,304 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,277 | 0 |
| February | 1,037 | 0 |
| March | 803 | 0 |
| April | 464 | 5 |
| May | 180 | 59 |
| June | 21 | 216 |
| July | 2 | 325 |
| August | 9 | 260 |
| September | 98 | 107 |
| October | 406 | 13 |
| November | 798 | 0 |
| December | 1,156 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,252 | 985 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00252840. 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.
How does Fairmont's climate compare?
Fairmont is warmer than 86 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 72. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.4°F is warmer than 42%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fairmont 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 Fairmont 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.
- Exeter, NE515 people · 8 mi E
- McCool Junction, NE480 people · 7 mi N
- Grafton, NE110 people · 6 mi W
- Lushton, NE29 people · 9 mi NW
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 Fairmont's climate
What is the coldest month in Fairmont?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Fairmont?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Fairmont?
May, with 4.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.63 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fairmont in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fairmont in zone 5b in ZIP code 68354, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fairmont's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Fairmont?
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
- Geneva, NE7 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- York, NE16 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Friend, NE19 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Clay Center, NE25 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made