Fort Scott, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fort Scott's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 44.5 inches of precipitation and 8 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.9°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,130 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFort Scott
- Station IDUSC00142835
- Location37.82°N 94.70°W
- Elevation884 ft (269 m)
- Population7,563
On October 23, the normal high in Fort Scott is 67°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fort Scott.
- Jan 42° 22°
- Feb 48° 26°
- Mar 58° 35°
- Apr 68° 45°
- May 77° 56°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 91° 70°
- Aug 90° 68°
- Sep 82° 59°
- Oct 70° 47°
- Nov 57° 36°
- Dec 46° 27°
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 Fort Scott each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.19 in), the least in January (1.44 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 22°F | 32.0°F | 1.44 | 3.9 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 26°F | 37.0°F | 1.75 | 1.0 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 35°F | 46.5°F | 2.92 | 0.7 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 45°F | 56.5°F | 4.85 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 56°F | 66.3°F | 6.19 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.6°F | 5.74 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 91°F | 70°F | 80.3°F | 4.63 | 0.0 | 7 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 90°F | 68°F | 78.9°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 6 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 4.46 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 47°F | 58.3°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 36°F | 46.1°F | 2.84 | 0.4 | 6 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 27°F | 36.1°F | 2.05 | 2.3 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 46°F | 57.0°F | 44.49 | 8.4 | 83 | 53 | 101 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −6°C | 0.0°C | 37 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 44 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 74 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 20°C | 7°C | 13.6°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 19.1°C | 157 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.2°C | 146 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 21°C | 26.8°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 20°C | 26.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.3°C | 52 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142835; 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 Fort Scott?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00142835.
When is the last frost in Fort Scott?
In Fort Scott, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 14 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 51 year in 10 after April 22; 9 in 10 after March 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 204 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 226 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 27 in half of springs and before November 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fort Scott in zone 7a in ZIP code 66701, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fort Scott's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00142835; 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 Fort Scott?
In a normal year in Fort Scott, 53 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 101 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 83 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 53a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 101a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 18high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 83a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 120°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −24°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1915, with 60.52 in; the snowiest season is 1954–55, with 36.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00142835; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00142835. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fort Scott?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fort Scott, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.4 |
| February | 69% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 82% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.6 |
| November | 74% | 2.6 |
| December | 71% | 2.1 |
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 Fort Scott need?
A normal year in Fort Scott brings 4,513 heating degree days, 16% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,628 cooling degree days, 79% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,457 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,024 | 0 |
| February | 784 | 0 |
| March | 578 | 6 |
| April | 283 | 28 |
| May | 85 | 123 |
| June | 6 | 325 |
| July | 0 | 476 |
| August | 1 | 431 |
| September | 39 | 198 |
| October | 247 | 38 |
| November | 571 | 3 |
| December | 896 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,513 | 1,628 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00142835. 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 Fort Scott been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 57.0°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 57.0°F. 1 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.6°F | −0.4°F | 47.29 | – |
| 2023 | 57.9°F | +0.9°F | 27.92 | – |
| 2025 | 57.0°F | at normal | 43.37 | – |
Over 100 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00142835; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fort Scott's climate compare?
Fort Scott is warmer than 122 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 129. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.0°F is warmer than 66%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fort Scott is Cfa: temperate, 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 Fort Scott share this climate record?
9 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.
- Uniontown, KS297 people · 15 mi W
- Bronaugh, MO163 people · 15 mi SE
- Redfield, KS92 people · 10 mi W
- Moundville, MO78 people · 14 mi E
- Devon, KS61 people · 10 mi NW
- Richards, MO43 people · 10 mi NE
- Deerfield, MO38 people · 11 mi E
- Metz, MO18 people · 19 mi NE
- Stotesbury, MO13 people · 13 mi NE
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 Fort Scott's climate
What is the coldest month in Fort Scott?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Fort Scott?
Yes: 8 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Fort Scott?
May, with 6.19 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.44 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fort Scott in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fort Scott in zone 7a in ZIP code 66701, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fort Scott's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Fort Scott?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 22. Waiting until April 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Nevada, MO18 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Girard, KS23 miles from this station, 56.6°F a year
- Mound City, KS24 miles from this station, 55.1°F a year
- Lamar, MO27 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made