Forest City, 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 Forest City's primary NOAA station, FOREST CITY 2 NNE.
The climate verdict for Forest City
Winter sets the terms in Forest City, Iowa. A pronounced 57.3°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
- 35.9"
- yearly precipitation total
- 160 days
- frost-free growing season
Forest City: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00132977 · Forest City, IA 45°F mean · 35.9" 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 ≈ Cresco
- PRCP-MID 35.9"
- SWING-WIDE 57°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,857 HDD
- STN-1 USC00132977
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Cresco, IA (+ 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.
- Forest City (this station) 45°F
- Hot Circle, MT 45°F
- Near Cresco, IA 45°F
- Near Theilman, MN 45°F
- Near Sherburn, MN 45°F
Climate Living Index · Forest City
Forest City: 42/100 · grade D
Forest City publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Forest City, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 35.9 in · 0.9 from 35 in | 94/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 165 calendar days | 36/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 160 days/year | 33/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.9°F · 22.6° from 67.5°F | 19/100 · F |
Forest City · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Forest City is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 14.1°F and warmest-month mean 71.4°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
- 71.4°F
- Coldest month
- 14.1°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 Forest City sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Forest City'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, Forest City sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 49th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 95%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Forest City is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Forest City compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Forest City'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
Forest City's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 81 complete annual observations from 1896 to 2022, FOREST CITY 2 NNE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.11°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Forest City primary station fitted change +0.11 °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 | 23°F (-5°C) | 6°F (-15°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 1.1" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 27°F (-3°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 1.3" | 27.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 40°F (5°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.9" | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.9" | 11.1 | 0.1 |
| May | 69°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 4.8" | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| June | 78°F (26°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 5.5" | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.6" | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| August | 79°F (26°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 3.5" | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| October | 60°F (15°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.6" | 9.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 1.6" | 23.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 29°F (-2°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 1.2" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 10, short of 90°F on every date, while 165 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 5°F near January 22.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 10, then returns to freezing around October 29, covering 165 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 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Forest City.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Forest City runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Forest City'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 5.5", on a wide 57.3°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 1.1".
- Winter share: 10% 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 7
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
160 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,857
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
588
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Forest City 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).
- Craig, AK 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Custer, SD 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Forest Lake, MN 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Gaylord, MN 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (35.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ionia, MI 35.9" · 0.0" off
- Gonzales, TX 35.9" · 0.0" off
- Centralia, KS 35.9" · 0.0" off
- Hesperia, MI 35.9" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Forest City's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Forest City logs 7,857 heating degree days, more than twice its 588 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 57.3°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Forest City's frost-free season lasts about 160 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Forest City's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 57.3°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.
Forest City's 35.9 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 Forest City'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 Forest City, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Forest City'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 Forest City's primary station: FOREST CITY 2 NNE (USC00132977). 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 1928380). Match rule for Forest City: 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 Forest City 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.