Glenwood, 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 Glenwood's primary NOAA station, GLENWOOD 3SW.
The climate verdict for Glenwood
Glenwood, Iowa has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 51°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 51°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 34.8"
- annual precipitation · 24" snow
- 171 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Glenwood: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00133290 · Glenwood, IA 51°F mean · 34.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 51°F
- RANK-MID #3,019
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Des Moines
- PRCP-MID 34.8"
- SWING-WIDE 53°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,188 HDD
- STN-1 USC00133290
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Des Moines, IA (+ 0 °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.
- Glenwood (this station) 51°F
- Cold Gretna, NE 51°F
- Hot Des Moines, IA 51°F
- Near Niobrara, NE 51°F
- Near Red Oak, IA 51°F
Climate Living Index · Glenwood
Glenwood: 55/100 · grade C
Glenwood publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Glenwood, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 34.8 in · 0.2 from 35 in | 96/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 146 calendar days | 49/100 · D |
| Snowfall burden | 23.7 inches/year | 45/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 50.9°F · 16.6° from 67.5°F | 44/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 171 days/year | 43/100 · D |
Glenwood · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Glenwood is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 22.6°F and warmest-month mean 75.8°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 75.8°F
- Coldest month
- 22.6°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 Glenwood sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Glenwood's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 44th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 48th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 89%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Glenwood is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Glenwood compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Glenwood's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.7" | 8.2" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 38°F (3°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 1.0" | 7.0" | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 52°F (11°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 2.0" | 3.4" | 21.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 64°F (18°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 3.7" | 0.4" | 8.5 | 0.8 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 5.2" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| June | 83°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 6.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.1 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.6 |
| August | 85°F (30°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.1 |
| September | 79°F (26°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 4.6 |
| October | 67°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 7.4 | 0.9 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 1.3" | 1.3" | 21.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.2" | 3.4" | 29.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 11, short of 90°F on every date, while 146 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 12°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 29, then returns to freezing around November 5, covering 146 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.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 4, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 27 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 84 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 29 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Glenwood.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.2"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.0"
5.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.4"
6.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
9.7 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.3"
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.4"
4.2 days with precipitation
Glenwood runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Glenwood'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 6.0", on a wide 53.2°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 44% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.7".
- Winter share: 8% 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.
When it rains in Glenwood, it arrives in quantity
34.8" of precipitation falls across only about 84 wet days here, averaging 0.41 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 84 a year, 23% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.41 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- December, about 4
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Glenwood
Glenwood averages 23.7 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 11 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 23.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 11 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 7% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 11
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 23
50% probability date
Growing Season
171 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,188
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,070
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Glenwood 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 (51°F here).
- Battle Ground, WA 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Belington, WV 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Blaine, WA 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Bland, VA 51°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (34.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Blanco, TX 34.8" · 0.0" off
- Refugio, TX 34.8" · 0.0" off
- Dundee, MI 34.8" · 0.0" off
- Killeen, TX 34.8" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Glenwood
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Glenwood's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,188 annual heating degree days against 1,070 for cooling. Its 53.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Glenwood's frost-free season lasts about 171 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Glenwood coldest normal
January
Averaging 23°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Glenwood typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Glenwood snow peak
January
Glenwood averages 23.7 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Glenwood's climate
How much snow does Glenwood get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Glenwood get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Glenwood? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Glenwood's primary station: GLENWOOD 3SW (USC00133290). 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 1931350). Match rule for Glenwood: 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 Glenwood 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.