Harrisburg (12 mi WNW), Nebraska climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)'s normal year runs from 13°F December nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 16.5 inches of precipitation and 47 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.6°C, December lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 420 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHarrisburg (12 mi WNW)
- Station IDUSC00253605
- Location41.63°N 103.95°W
- Elevation4,550 ft (1,387 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) is 60°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Harrisburg (12 mi WNW).
- Jan 41° 14°
- Feb 43° 15°
- Mar 53° 22°
- Apr 60° 29°
- May 69° 39°
- Jun 81° 48°
- Jul 88° 55°
- Aug 87° 53°
- Sep 78° 43°
- Oct 63° 30°
- Nov 51° 20°
- Dec 41° 13°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.71 in), the least in January (0.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 14°F | 27.5°F | 0.31 | 5.5 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 43°F | 15°F | 29.1°F | 0.52 | 8.2 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 53°F | 22°F | 37.4°F | 1.02 | 7.1 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 29°F | 44.2°F | 1.80 | 6.0 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 39°F | 54.0°F | 2.71 | 1.6 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 48°F | 64.6°F | 2.41 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 88°F | 55°F | 71.8°F | 1.89 | 0.0 | 7 | 15 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 87°F | 53°F | 69.8°F | 1.81 | 0.0 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 43°F | 60.3°F | 1.45 | 0.6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 30°F | 46.7°F | 1.45 | 4.2 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 20°F | 35.7°F | 0.66 | 5.0 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 41°F | 13°F | 27.3°F | 0.49 | 8.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 32°F | 47.4°F | 16.52 | 46.6 | 78 | 38 | 188 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −10°C | −2.5°C | 8 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 6°C | −9°C | −1.6°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 11°C | −5°C | 3.0°C | 26 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 15°C | −2°C | 6.8°C | 46 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 20°C | 4°C | 12.2°C | 69 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 27°C | 9°C | 18.1°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 13°C | 22.1°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 12°C | 21.0°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 6°C | 15.7°C | 37 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 17°C | −1°C | 8.2°C | 37 mm | 11 cm |
| November | 11°C | −6°C | 2.1°C | 17 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 5°C | −10°C | −2.6°C | 12 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253605; 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.
Which months are mildest at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. 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 USC00253605.
When is the last frost at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
In Harrisburg (12 mi WNW), the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 24 in half of years and after June 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 20 in half of years and before September 6 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 241 year in 10 after June 12; 9 in 10 after May 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 201 year in 10 before September 6; 9 in 10 before October 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 117 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 137 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 12 in half of springs and before September 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) in zone 5a in ZIP code 69352, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (29 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 USC00253605; 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 at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
In a normal year in Harrisburg (12 mi WNW), 38 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 188 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 188a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 29high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1961) is 106°F, on August 3, 2026; the lowest is −44°F, on December 22, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 26.47 in; the snowiest season is 2015–16, with 96.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00253605; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00253605. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW), 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.4 |
| February | 75% | 3.2 |
| March | 76% | 4.4 |
| April | 73% | 5.4 |
| May | 75% | 6.3 |
| June | 84% | 7.3 |
| July | 86% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.1 |
| October | 79% | 3.6 |
| November | 79% | 2.5 |
| December | 75% | 2.0 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) record?
A normal year at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) brings 6,936 heating degree days, 29% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 540 cooling degree days, 41% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,395 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,161 | 0 |
| February | 1,006 | 0 |
| March | 857 | 0 |
| April | 623 | 0 |
| May | 353 | 11 |
| June | 94 | 82 |
| July | 14 | 225 |
| August | 28 | 177 |
| September | 186 | 45 |
| October | 570 | 1 |
| November | 878 | 0 |
| December | 1,167 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,936 | 540 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00253605. 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.
Have recent years at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) been warmer than normal?
2023 averaged 47.3°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 47.4°F. 1 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.6°F | +1.2°F | 11.89 | – |
| 2022 | 46.9°F | −0.5°F | – | – |
| 2023 | 47.3°F | −0.1°F | 21.04 | – |
Over 56 complete years from 1963 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.4°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00253605; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)'s climate compare?
Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) is warmer than 10 of the 137 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 7. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.4°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) share this climate record?
Hawk Springs has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Hawk Springs, WY59 people · 19 mi NW
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 Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)'s climate
What is the coldest month at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
December, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
Yes: 47 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
May, with 2.71 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Harrisburg (12 mi WNW) in zone 5a in ZIP code 69352, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come at Harrisburg (12 mi WNW)?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 24; in one year in ten it comes after June 12. Waiting until June 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
- La Grange, WY11 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Albin, WY18 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Scottsbluff, NE25 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Mitchell, NE25 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made