Iola, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Iola's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 42.0 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.3°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,068 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationIola (1 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00143984
- Location37.92°N 95.42°W
- Elevation954 ft (291 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,309
On October 23, the normal high in Iola is 67°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Iola.
- Jan 41° 20°
- Feb 47° 25°
- Mar 57° 34°
- Apr 67° 45°
- May 75° 56°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 88° 67°
- Sep 80° 58°
- Oct 69° 46°
- Nov 56° 35°
- Dec 44° 24°
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 Iola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.81 in), the least in January (1.27 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 20°F | 30.9°F | 1.27 | 2.7 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 25°F | 35.7°F | 1.56 | 1.1 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 34°F | 45.5°F | 2.63 | 1.0 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 45°F | 55.6°F | 4.42 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 56°F | 65.2°F | 5.81 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.6°F | 5.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 78.9°F | 4.72 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 88°F | 67°F | 77.3°F | 4.04 | 0.0 | 7 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 58°F | 69.3°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 46°F | 57.8°F | 3.64 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 2.43 | 0.2 | 6 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 24°F | 34.4°F | 1.81 | 2.4 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 45°F | 55.9°F | 42.04 | 7.4 | 89 | 40 | 106 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.6°C | 32 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 40 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 14°C | 1°C | 7.5°C | 67 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.4°C | 148 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 25.2°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 8°C | 14.3°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 62 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 7°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 46 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00143984; 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 Iola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, 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 USC00143984.
When is the last frost in Iola?
In Iola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 8 in half of years and after April 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 26 in half of years and before October 13 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 81 year in 10 after April 24; 9 in 10 after March 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 261 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 200 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 219 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 30 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Iola in zone 6b in ZIP code 66749, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Iola's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (27 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 USC00143984; 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 Iola?
In a normal year in Iola, 40 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 106 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 89 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 40a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 106a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 19high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 89a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1959) is 109°F, on July 12, 1980; the lowest is −24°F, on February 10, 2011.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 62.76 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 25.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00143984; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00143984. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Iola?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Iola, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.4 |
| February | 70% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 83% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 83% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.9 |
| October | 77% | 3.6 |
| November | 76% | 2.6 |
| December | 72% | 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 Iola need?
A normal year in Iola brings 4,734 heating degree days, 12% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,440 cooling degree days, 59% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,191 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,058 | 0 |
| February | 819 | 0 |
| March | 606 | 3 |
| April | 301 | 19 |
| May | 97 | 103 |
| June | 6 | 294 |
| July | 0 | 429 |
| August | 1 | 382 |
| September | 46 | 175 |
| October | 256 | 33 |
| November | 594 | 2 |
| December | 950 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,734 | 1,440 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00143984. 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 Iola been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.5°F, 0.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 55.9°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57.0°F | +1.1°F | 60.15 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 55.4°F | −0.5°F | 32.84 | 12.0 |
| 2023 | 56.9°F | +1.0°F | 28.69 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | 57.3°F | +1.4°F | 38.29 | 0.7 |
| 2025 | 55.5°F | −0.4°F | 40.67 | 12.2 |
Over 49 complete years from 1961 to 2025, 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 USC00143984; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Iola's climate compare?
Iola is warmer than 101 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 127. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.9°F is warmer than 63%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Iola 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 Iola share this climate record?
9 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.
- La Harpe, KS488 people · 7 mi E
- Gas, KS466 people · 4 mi E
- Moran, KS463 people · 14 mi E
- Colony, KS383 people · 11 mi N
- Bronson, KS307 people · 19 mi E
- Neosho Falls, KS138 people · 9 mi NW
- Piqua, KS72 people · 6 mi W
- Bassett, KS22 people · 1 mi SE
- Mildred, KS6 people · 15 mi NE
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 Iola's climate
What is the coldest month in Iola?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Iola?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Iola?
May, with 5.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.27 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Iola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Iola in zone 6b in ZIP code 66749, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Iola's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Iola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 8; in one year in ten it comes after April 24. Waiting until April 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Humboldt, KS8 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Yates Center, KS17 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Chanute, KS18 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Garnett, KS27 miles from this station, 55.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made