Gretna, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gretna's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 33.2 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.4°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 843 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGretna (4 mi NE)
- Station IDUSC00253467
- Location41.16°N 96.19°W
- Elevation1,240 ft (378 m)
- Population9,207
On October 23, the normal high in Gretna is 61°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gretna.
- Jan 32° 14°
- Feb 37° 18°
- Mar 50° 28°
- Apr 62° 39°
- May 72° 51°
- Jun 83° 62°
- Jul 86° 66°
- Aug 84° 64°
- Sep 77° 54°
- Oct 64° 42°
- Nov 49° 29°
- Dec 37° 19°
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 Gretna each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.37 in), the least in January (0.89 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 14°F | 23.2°F | 0.89 | 8.6 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 18°F | 27.4°F | 1.18 | 10.9 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 28°F | 39.2°F | 1.94 | 5.4 | 8 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 39°F | 50.3°F | 3.28 | 1.0 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 51°F | 61.5°F | 4.99 | 0.2 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 62°F | 72.2°F | 5.37 | 0.0 | 12 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 66°F | 75.9°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 10 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 64°F | 73.7°F | 3.83 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 54°F | 65.8°F | 2.92 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 42°F | 53.0°F | 2.56 | 1.2 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 29°F | 39.0°F | 1.35 | 1.3 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 19°F | 27.6°F | 1.38 | 7.8 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 40°F | 50.7°F | 33.17 | 36.4 | 108 | 26 | 136 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −10°C | −4.9°C | 23 mm | 22 cm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 30 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 10°C | −2°C | 4.0°C | 49 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 83 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 127 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.4°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 18°C | 23.2°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 65 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 34 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −2.4°C | 35 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253467; 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 Gretna?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00253467.
When is the last frost in Gretna?
In Gretna, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 21 in half of years and after May 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 4 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 4; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 179 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 199 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gretna in zone 6a in ZIP code 68136, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Gretna's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (15 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 USC00253467; 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 Gretna?
In a normal year in Gretna, 26 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 136 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 108 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 136a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 43high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 108a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00253467.
How sunny is Gretna?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gretna, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.0 |
| February | 74% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 80% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 76% | 3.3 |
| November | 76% | 2.3 |
| December | 69% | 1.7 |
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 Gretna need?
A normal year in Gretna brings 6,209 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,044 cooling degree days, 15% 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 3,408 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,296 | 0 |
| February | 1,051 | 0 |
| March | 804 | 2 |
| April | 449 | 7 |
| May | 174 | 67 |
| June | 10 | 228 |
| July | 2 | 339 |
| August | 6 | 275 |
| September | 88 | 112 |
| October | 388 | 14 |
| November | 782 | 0 |
| December | 1,159 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,209 | 1,044 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253467. 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 Gretna been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.8°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50.4°F | −0.3°F | 20.49 | 10.9 |
| 2023 | 52.4°F | +1.7°F | 24.60 | 17.7 |
| 2024 | 53.3°F | +2.6°F | 31.91 | 23.7 |
| 2025 | 51.8°F | +1.1°F | 33.35 | 27.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00253467. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Gretna's climate compare?
Gretna is warmer than 95 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 120. 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, Gretna 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 Gretna share this climate record?
6 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.
- Papillion, NE25,248 people · 6 mi E
- La Vista, NE16,543 people · 7 mi E
- Chalco, NE10,625 people · 3 mi NE
- Ralston, NE6,443 people · 9 mi E
- Boys Town, NE649 people · 8 mi NE
- Melia, NE43 people · 6 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 Gretna's climate
What is the coldest month in Gretna?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Gretna?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (10.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Gretna?
June, with 5.37 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.89 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gretna in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Gretna in zone 6a in ZIP code 68136, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Gretna's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Gretna?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 21; in one year in ten it comes after May 4. Waiting until May 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Springfield, NE12 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Ashland, NE13 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Valley, NE14 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Mead, NE15 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made