Helena, AR Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Helena's primary NOAA station, HELENA.
The climate verdict for Helena
Water is the standout signal in Helena, Arkansas: 49.7 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 62°F. It scores 97/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 97% of them.
- 62°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 97/100
- comfort score, above 97% of station-mapped location scores
- 49.7"
- yearly precipitation total
- 246 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Helena: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00033242 · Helena, AR 62°F mean · 49.7" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 62°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,557
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Animas
- PRCP-MID 49.7"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-TOP 97/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00033242
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Animas, NM (+ 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 AR station list.
- Helena (this station) 62°F
- Hot Fort Payne, AL 62°F
- Near Animas, NM 62°F
- Near Cedartown, GA 62°F
- Near Coleman, OK 62°F
Climate Living Index · Helena
Helena: 80/100 · grade B
Helena publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Helena, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 97/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 59 calendar days | 89/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.3 inches/year | 88/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 246 days/year | 87/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 62.2°F · 5.3° from 67.5°F | 84/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 49.7 in · 14.7 from 35 in | 48/100 · D |
Helena · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Helena is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 40.7°F and warmest-month mean 81.6°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 81.6°F
- Coldest month
- 40.7°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 · balanced station
Where Helena sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Helena's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 19% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Helena sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 20% wettest
- Helena's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 39th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Helena compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Helena's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
97 Top 3% score exceeds 97% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Helena's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 70 complete annual observations from 1904 to 2024, HELENA changed little at a fitted rate of 0.00°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Helena primary station fitted change +0.00 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F (10°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 4.6" | 0.2" | 17.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 54°F (12°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 12.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 63°F (17°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 73°F (23°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 5.7" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| May | 81°F (27°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| June | 88°F (31°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 17.4 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 23.3 |
| August | 90°F (32°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 2.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.3 |
| September | 85°F (29°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.4 |
| October | 74°F (24°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| November | 62°F (16°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 4.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 52°F (11°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 5.1" | 0.1" | 14.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Helena works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by August 1 and hold at or above 90°F on 50 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 9 dates, bottoming at 32°F around January 16.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 2 through August 20, covering 50 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 7 to October 26.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
Freezing normal lows persist into January 24, covering 9 dates.
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 March 7, when 27% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 15 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 80 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 12 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Helena.
Where Helena Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Helena earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 0.2"
8.2 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
4.0 days with precipitation
5.5 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
7.5 days with precipitation
Helena spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 19% of the annual total and December through February 28%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Helena has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: April averages 5.7" and September 2.6". The three wettest months together take 32% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Helena, it arrives in quantity
49.7" of precipitation falls across only about 79 wet days here, averaging 0.63 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 79 a year, 22% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.63 inches
- Most wet days
- March, about 9
- Fewest wet days
- September, 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.
Snow reaches Helena, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 0.3 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 0 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 16
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 15
50% probability date
Growing Season
246 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,072
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,097
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AR closest to Helena 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 (62°F here).
- Animas, NM 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Cedartown, GA 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Coleman, OK 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Fort Payne, AL 62°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (49.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Grantsville, WV 49.7" · 0.0" off
- Jefferson, TX 49.7" · 0.0" off
- Bridgehampton, NY 49.8" · 0.0" off
- Chesterfield, SC 49.8" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Helena's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · wet · mid swing
Water is prominent even though neither heating nor cooling wholly defines the record. Helena averages 49.7 inches of precipitation a year. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. The monthly table supplies the seasonal distribution hidden by that annual total.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Helena's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.9°F. The annual average is 62°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Helena's normal, at 3,072 and 2,097 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
The frost-free window extends for about 246 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Helena's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Helena, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Helena's climate
How much rain does Helena get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Helena get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Helena? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Helena's primary station: HELENA (USC00033242). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Helena; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Helena 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.