Hill City, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hill City's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 21.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.2°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 34°C, 546 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHill City Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00093990
- Location39.38°N 99.83°W
- Elevation2,188 ft (667 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,374
On October 23, the normal high in Hill City is 66°F and the normal low 37°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 Hill City.
- Jan 43° 17°
- Feb 46° 20°
- Mar 57° 29°
- Apr 66° 38°
- May 76° 50°
- Jun 88° 60°
- Jul 93° 66°
- Aug 90° 64°
- Sep 83° 54°
- Oct 69° 40°
- Nov 55° 27°
- Dec 44° 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 Hill City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.61 in), the least in January (0.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 17°F | 30.0°F | 0.33 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 20°F | 33.1°F | 0.45 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 29°F | 43.0°F | 1.08 | 5 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 38°F | 52.1°F | 1.97 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 50°F | 62.9°F | 3.34 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 88°F | 60°F | 74.2°F | 2.79 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 93°F | 66°F | 79.7°F | 3.61 | 9 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 64°F | 76.8°F | 2.95 | 9 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 83°F | 54°F | 68.3°F | 2.06 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 40°F | 54.5°F | 1.60 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 27°F | 41.1°F | 0.66 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 19°F | 31.4°F | 0.66 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 40°F | 53.9°F | 21.50 | 78 | 69 | 143 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −8°C | −1.1°C | 8 mm |
| February | 8°C | −7°C | 0.6°C | 11 mm |
| March | 14°C | −2°C | 6.1°C | 27 mm |
| April | 19°C | 3°C | 11.2°C | 50 mm |
| May | 25°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 85 mm |
| June | 31°C | 16°C | 23.4°C | 71 mm |
| July | 34°C | 19°C | 26.5°C | 92 mm |
| August | 32°C | 18°C | 24.9°C | 75 mm |
| September | 28°C | 12°C | 20.2°C | 52 mm |
| October | 21°C | 4°C | 12.5°C | 41 mm |
| November | 13°C | −3°C | 5.1°C | 17 mm |
| December | 7°C | −7°C | −0.3°C | 17 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Hill City's own co-op station Hill City (1 mi E) does: 17 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093990; 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 Hill City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. 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 USW00093990.
When is the last frost in Hill City?
In Hill City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before September 30 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 271 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 169 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 188 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hill City in zone 6a in ZIP code 67642, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hill City's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093990; 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 Hill City?
In a normal year in Hill City, 69 days a year reach 90°F (17 of them 100°F or more), 143 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 69a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 143a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 117°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −24°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 39.38 in; the snowiest season is 1957–58, with 48.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093990; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093990. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hill City?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hill City, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and February the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.4 |
| February | 75% | 3.3 |
| March | 77% | 4.5 |
| April | 76% | 5.5 |
| May | 78% | 6.3 |
| June | 86% | 7.1 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 85% | 6.1 |
| September | 84% | 5.0 |
| October | 80% | 3.7 |
| November | 81% | 2.7 |
| December | 77% | 2.1 |
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 Hill City need?
A normal year in Hill City brings 5,391 heating degree days, 0% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,392 cooling degree days, 53% 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 3,884 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,087 | 0 |
| February | 893 | 0 |
| March | 681 | 1 |
| April | 396 | 9 |
| May | 146 | 81 |
| June | 14 | 290 |
| July | 1 | 457 |
| August | 2 | 368 |
| September | 66 | 165 |
| October | 347 | 22 |
| November | 717 | 0 |
| December | 1,040 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,391 | 1,392 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093990. 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 Hill City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.1°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.9°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.5°F | +1.6°F | 17.61 |
| 2022 | 54.7°F | +0.8°F | 12.13 |
| 2023 | 55.4°F | +1.5°F | 17.12 |
| 2025 | 55.1°F | +1.2°F | 17.08 |
Over 80 complete years from 1912 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093990; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hill City's climate compare?
Hill City is warmer than 41 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 21. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.9°F is warmer than 57%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hill City is Dwa: continental, dry-winter, 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 Hill City share this climate record?
2 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.
- Bogue, KS148 people · 8 mi E
- Morland, KS113 people · 13 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Hill City's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Hill City. This page uses Hill City Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hill City (1 mi E) USC00143665 | 1 mi SE | 2,132 ft | 52.4°F | 16°F | 91°F | 24.2 | 17 | April 29 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Hill City's climate
What is the coldest month in Hill City?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Hill City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Hill City's NOAA station; Hill City's own co-op station Hill City (1 mi E) records 17 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Hill City?
July, with 3.61 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hill City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hill City in zone 6a in ZIP code 67642, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hill City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Hill City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Webster Dam, KS22 miles from this station, 53.9°F a year
- WaKeeney, KS25 miles from this station, 53.9°F a year
- Plainville, KS25 miles from this station, 53.3°F a year
- Quinter, KS30 miles from this station, 52.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made