Gibson City, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gibson City's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 37.7 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.4°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 29°C, 958 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGibson City
- Station IDUSC00113413
- Location40.47°N 88.37°W
- Elevation750 ft (229 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population3,444
On October 23, the normal high in Gibson City is 61°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gibson City.
- Jan 32° 16°
- Feb 37° 20°
- Mar 48° 29°
- Apr 62° 39°
- May 73° 51°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 84° 64°
- Aug 83° 62°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 64° 41°
- Nov 49° 31°
- Dec 37° 22°
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 Gibson City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.57 in), the least in February (1.77 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 16°F | 24.0°F | 1.95 | 6.7 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 20°F | 28.1°F | 1.77 | 4.1 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 48°F | 29°F | 38.8°F | 2.74 | 1.4 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 3.57 | 0.3 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 51°F | 61.9°F | 4.51 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.2°F | 4.57 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 64°F | 73.8°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 62°F | 72.1°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.5°F | 3.20 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 41°F | 52.7°F | 3.40 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 31°F | 40.1°F | 2.63 | 1.1 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 22°F | 29.4°F | 2.18 | 4.6 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 41°F | 50.7°F | 37.73 | 18.3 | 110 | 19 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.4°C | 50 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.2°C | 45 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 9°C | −1°C | 3.8°C | 70 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 91 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.6°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 18°C | 23.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 22.3°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.5°C | 67 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 3°C | −5°C | −1.4°C | 55 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00113413; 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 Gibson City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September 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 USC00113413.
When is the last frost in Gibson City?
In Gibson City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 21 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 5 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 211 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 178 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 200 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gibson City in zone 6a in ZIP code 60936, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Gibson City's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00113413; 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 Gibson City?
In a normal year in Gibson City, 19 days a year reach 90°F, 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 110 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 40high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 110a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1942) is 103°F, on June 26, 1988; the lowest is −25°F, on January 5, 1999.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1990, with 50.39 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 41.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00113413; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00113413. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Gibson City?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gibson City, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.9 |
| February | 67% | 2.7 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 72% | 3.1 |
| November | 69% | 2.1 |
| December | 62% | 1.6 |
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 Gibson City need?
A normal year in Gibson City brings 6,099 heating degree days, 14% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 908 cooling degree days, 0% 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 3,262 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,271 | 0 |
| February | 1,033 | 0 |
| March | 814 | 0 |
| April | 447 | 8 |
| May | 166 | 68 |
| June | 25 | 211 |
| July | 3 | 275 |
| August | 8 | 228 |
| September | 90 | 104 |
| October | 392 | 13 |
| November | 747 | 0 |
| December | 1,104 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,099 | 908 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00113413. 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 Gibson City's climate compare?
Gibson City is warmer than 48 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 27. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.7°F is warmer than 44%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Gibson City 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 Gibson City 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.
- Farmer City, IL1,817 people · 21 mi SW
- Saybrook, IL645 people · 9 mi W
- Melvin, IL418 people · 9 mi NE
- Bellflower, IL335 people · 12 mi SW
- Sibley, IL287 people · 8 mi N
- Elliott, IL275 people · 5 mi E
- Arrowsmith, IL271 people · 14 mi W
- Anchor, IL160 people · 11 mi NW
- Strawn, IL102 people · 13 mi N
- Foosland, IL75 people · 8 mi SW
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 Gibson City's climate
What is the coldest month in Gibson City?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Gibson City?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Gibson City?
June, with 4.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.77 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gibson City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Gibson City in zone 6a in ZIP code 60936, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Gibson City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Gibson City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 21; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Paxton, IL12 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Rantoul, IL16 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Piper City, IL22 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Chenoa, IL26 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made