Franklin, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Franklin's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 26.5 inches of precipitation and 19 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.7°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 32°C, 674 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFranklin #2
- Station IDUSC00253037
- Location40.10°N 98.94°W
- Elevation1,861 ft (567 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population892
On October 14, the normal high in Franklin is 68°F and the normal low 39°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 Franklin.
- Jan 38° 14°
- Feb 43° 17°
- Mar 54° 26°
- Apr 64° 36°
- May 73° 48°
- Jun 84° 59°
- Jul 89° 64°
- Aug 87° 62°
- Sep 80° 52°
- Oct 67° 38°
- Nov 53° 25°
- Dec 41° 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 Franklin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.39 in), the least in January (0.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 14°F | 26.1°F | 0.56 | 4.2 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 17°F | 29.7°F | 0.79 | 6.0 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 26°F | 40.1°F | 1.44 | 2.3 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 36°F | 49.9°F | 2.54 | 1.0 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 48°F | 60.6°F | 4.39 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 59°F | 71.6°F | 3.88 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 89°F | 64°F | 76.7°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 87°F | 62°F | 74.2°F | 3.16 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 52°F | 65.7°F | 1.81 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 38°F | 52.3°F | 2.11 | 1.0 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 25°F | 39.0°F | 1.05 | 1.6 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 17°F | 28.6°F | 0.87 | 2.8 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 38°F | 51.2°F | 26.54 | 18.9 | 82 | 46 | 154 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −10°C | −3.3°C | 14 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 6°C | −8°C | −1.3°C | 20 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 12°C | −3°C | 4.5°C | 37 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 9.9°C | 65 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 15°C | 22.0°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 18°C | 24.8°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 16°C | 23.4°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 11°C | 18.7°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 3°C | 11.3°C | 54 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 11°C | −4°C | 3.9°C | 27 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 5°C | −9°C | −1.9°C | 22 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253037; 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 Franklin?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, 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 USC00253037.
When is the last frost in Franklin?
In Franklin, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 25 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 301 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 161 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 181 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Franklin in zone 6a in ZIP code 68939, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Franklin's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (30 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 USC00253037; 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 Franklin?
In a normal year in Franklin, 46 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 154 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 154a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 31high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1990) is 112°F, on June 28, 2012; the lowest is −28°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 36.21 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 45.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00253037; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00253037. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Franklin?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Franklin, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 6.1 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| 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 Franklin need?
A normal year in Franklin brings 6,065 heating degree days, 13% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,071 cooling degree days, 18% 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 3,389 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,206 | 0 |
| February | 990 | 0 |
| March | 771 | 1 |
| April | 459 | 6 |
| May | 193 | 56 |
| June | 23 | 220 |
| July | 2 | 363 |
| August | 7 | 292 |
| September | 98 | 121 |
| October | 405 | 13 |
| November | 782 | 0 |
| December | 1,130 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,065 | 1,071 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253037. 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 Franklin been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 54.1°F, 2.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.2°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.1°F | +2.9°F | 34.62 | 25.5 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00253037. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Franklin's climate compare?
Franklin is warmer than 105 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 63. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.2°F is warmer than 46%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Franklin 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 Franklin share this climate record?
2 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.
- Bloomington, NE110 people · 5 mi W
- Riverton, NE58 people · 10 mi E
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 Franklin's climate
What is the coldest month in Franklin?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Franklin?
Yes: 19 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Franklin?
May, with 4.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Franklin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Franklin in zone 6a in ZIP code 68939, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Franklin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Franklin?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Harlan County Lake, NE14 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Red Cloud, NE22 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Ragan, NE24 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Smith Center, KS24 miles from this station, 53.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made