Guthrie Center, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Guthrie Center's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 37.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.1°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 943 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGuthrie Center
- Station IDUSC00133509
- Location41.67°N 94.50°W
- Elevation1,065 ft (325 m)
- Population1,579
On October 14, the normal high in Guthrie Center is 65°F and the normal low 38°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Guthrie Center.
- Jan 30° 10°
- Feb 35° 14°
- Mar 48° 26°
- Apr 61° 36°
- May 72° 48°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 85° 63°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 77° 50°
- Oct 64° 38°
- Nov 48° 26°
- Dec 35° 16°
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 Guthrie Center each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.30 in), the least in January (0.89 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 10°F | 19.6°F | 0.89 | – | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 35°F | 14°F | 24.2°F | 1.18 | – | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 48°F | 26°F | 36.5°F | 1.88 | – | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 36°F | 48.7°F | 4.11 | – | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 48°F | 60.1°F | 5.30 | – | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.4°F | 5.23 | – | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 63°F | 74.1°F | 4.32 | – | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 4.52 | – | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 50°F | 63.5°F | 3.61 | – | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 38°F | 50.7°F | 2.81 | – | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 26°F | 36.8°F | 1.88 | – | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 16°F | 25.3°F | 1.41 | – | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 37°F | 48.4°F | 37.14 | – | 21 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.9°C | 23 mm |
| February | 1°C | −10°C | −4.3°C | 30 mm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.5°C | 48 mm |
| April | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 104 mm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 135 mm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 133 mm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 110 mm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 115 mm |
| September | 25°C | 10°C | 17.5°C | 92 mm |
| October | 18°C | 3°C | 10.4°C | 71 mm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 48 mm |
| December | 2°C | −9°C | −3.7°C | 36 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Jefferson (24 miles away), gets 32 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00133509; 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 Guthrie Center?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September.
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 USC00133509.
When is the last frost in Guthrie Center?
In Guthrie Center, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 20 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
- May 21 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 173 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Guthrie Center in zone 5a in ZIP code 50115, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Guthrie Center's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00133509; 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 Guthrie Center?
In a normal year in Guthrie Center, 21 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more) and 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 51high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 113°F, on July 25, 1936; the lowest is −35°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 48.65 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 62.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00133509; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00133509. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Guthrie Center?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Guthrie Center, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.0 |
| February | 75% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.7 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 3.2 |
| November | 73% | 2.2 |
| 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 Guthrie Center need?
A normal year in Guthrie Center brings 6,849 heating degree days, 27% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 843 cooling degree days, 7% fewer 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 3,044 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,406 | 0 |
| February | 1,142 | 0 |
| March | 885 | 1 |
| April | 497 | 7 |
| May | 206 | 54 |
| June | 28 | 189 |
| July | 6 | 286 |
| August | 16 | 210 |
| September | 131 | 86 |
| October | 456 | 11 |
| November | 845 | 0 |
| December | 1,232 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,849 | 843 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00133509. 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 Guthrie Center been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 50.7°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.4°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.9°F | +1.5°F | 29.49 |
| 2022 | 47.8°F | −0.6°F | 31.57 |
| 2023 | 50.7°F | +2.3°F | 27.16 |
Over 84 complete years from 1904 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00133509; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Guthrie Center's climate compare?
Guthrie Center is warmer than 75 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 73. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.4°F is warmer than 34%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Guthrie Center 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 Guthrie Center share this climate record?
12 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.
- Stuart, IA1,887 people · 15 mi SE
- Panora, IA1,096 people · 7 mi E
- Lake Panorama, IA844 people · 6 mi NE
- Adair, IA792 people · 14 mi SW
- Redfield, IA719 people · 16 mi E
- Dexter, IA631 people · 18 mi SE
- Bayard, IA402 people · 13 mi N
- Casey, IA387 people · 11 mi S
- Menlo, IA347 people · 11 mi SE
- Diamondhead Lake, IA283 people · 15 mi SE
- Yale, IA265 people · 10 mi NE
- Linden, IA206 people · 12 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 Guthrie Center's climate
What is the coldest month in Guthrie Center?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Guthrie Center?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Guthrie Center's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Jefferson (24 miles away), records 32 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Guthrie Center?
May, with 5.30 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.89 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Guthrie Center in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Guthrie Center in zone 5a in ZIP code 50115, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Guthrie Center's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Guthrie Center?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Audubon, IA22 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Perry, IA23 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Jefferson, IA24 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Greenfield, IA26 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made