Hawarden, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hawarden's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 29.9 inches of precipitation and 31 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.2°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 29°C, 758 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHawarden
- Station IDUSC00133718
- Location43.00°N 96.48°W
- Elevation1,190 ft (363 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,630
On October 23, the normal high in Hawarden is 58°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hawarden.
- Jan 27° 7°
- Feb 32° 11°
- Mar 45° 23°
- Apr 59° 34°
- May 71° 47°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 85° 62°
- Aug 83° 59°
- Sep 76° 50°
- Oct 62° 36°
- Nov 45° 23°
- Dec 31° 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 in Hawarden each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.36 in), the least in January (0.70 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 7°F | 17.0°F | 0.70 | 6.8 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 11°F | 21.7°F | 0.79 | 6.4 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 23°F | 33.9°F | 1.69 | 4.4 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 34°F | 46.6°F | 3.15 | 2.3 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 47°F | 58.7°F | 4.04 | 0.2 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.4°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 62°F | 73.5°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 59°F | 71.0°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 76°F | 50°F | 62.8°F | 3.25 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 36°F | 49.1°F | 2.54 | 0.1 | 7 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 23°F | 34.3°F | 1.31 | 3.1 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 31°F | 13°F | 22.1°F | 1.27 | 7.3 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 35°F | 46.7°F | 29.86 | 30.6 | 86 | 19 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −14°C | −8.3°C | 18 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 0°C | −11°C | −5.7°C | 20 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 7°C | −5°C | 1.1°C | 43 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 8.1°C | 80 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 103 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 2°C | 9.5°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | −5°C | 1.3°C | 33 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 0°C | −11°C | −5.5°C | 32 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00133718; 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 Hawarden?
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 USC00133718.
When is the last frost in Hawarden?
In Hawarden, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 21 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 11 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 155 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 22 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hawarden in zone 5a in ZIP code 51023, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hawarden's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (26 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 USC00133718; 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 Hawarden?
In a normal year in Hawarden, 19 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 62high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1937) is 109°F, on July 24, 1940; the lowest is −33°F, on February 11, 1988.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 43.01 in; the snowiest season is 1982–83, with 66.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00133718; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00133718. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hawarden?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hawarden, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and May the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.0 |
| February | 79% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 77% | 6.4 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.0 |
| November | 74% | 2.1 |
| December | 71% | 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 Hawarden need?
A normal year in Hawarden brings 7,410 heating degree days, 38% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 767 cooling degree days, 15% 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 2,862 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,486 | 0 |
| February | 1,214 | 0 |
| March | 966 | 1 |
| April | 556 | 4 |
| May | 237 | 42 |
| June | 36 | 168 |
| July | 7 | 271 |
| August | 15 | 201 |
| September | 141 | 74 |
| October | 499 | 6 |
| November | 921 | 0 |
| December | 1,331 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,410 | 767 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00133718. 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 Hawarden been warmer than normal lately?
Over 67 complete years from 1938 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hawarden's climate compare?
Hawarden is warmer than 34 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 7. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.7°F is warmer than 26%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hawarden 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 Hawarden share this climate record?
7 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.
- Beresford, SD2,087 people · 16 mi W
- Alcester, SD772 people · 7 mi W
- Ireton, IA571 people · 9 mi E
- Hudson, SD325 people · 9 mi N
- Richland, SD168 people · 19 mi SW
- Chatsworth, IA72 people · 6 mi S
- Fairview, SD66 people · 15 mi N
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 Hawarden's climate
What is the coldest month in Hawarden?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Hawarden?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (7.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hawarden?
June, with 4.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.70 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hawarden in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hawarden in zone 5a in ZIP code 51023, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hawarden's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Hawarden?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sioux Center, IA17 miles from this station, 48.0°F a year
- Centerville, SD21 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Canton, SD22 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Le Mars, IA23 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made