Iowa Falls, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Iowa Falls's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 38.1 inches of precipitation and 28 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.2°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 969 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationIowa Falls
- Station IDUSC00134142
- Location42.52°N 93.25°W
- Elevation1,055 ft (322 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population4,993
On October 23, the normal high in Iowa Falls is 58°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Iowa Falls.
- Jan 26° 8°
- Feb 31° 12°
- Mar 44° 24°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 70° 48°
- Jun 80° 58°
- Jul 83° 62°
- Aug 81° 60°
- Sep 75° 51°
- Oct 62° 38°
- Nov 45° 26°
- Dec 32° 15°
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 Iowa Falls each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (6.13 in), the least in January (0.92 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 8°F | 16.9°F | 0.92 | 7.1 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 12°F | 21.3°F | 1.16 | 7.1 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 24°F | 33.9°F | 2.08 | 4.5 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.8°F | 3.80 | 1.3 | 11 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 48°F | 58.8°F | 5.57 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 80°F | 58°F | 69.1°F | 6.13 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 62°F | 72.6°F | 4.54 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 81°F | 60°F | 70.2°F | 4.37 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 51°F | 62.7°F | 3.49 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 38°F | 50.0°F | 2.56 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 26°F | 35.3°F | 1.97 | 1.6 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 32°F | 15°F | 23.2°F | 1.54 | 6.1 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 36°F | 46.7°F | 38.13 | 27.7 | 104 | 11 | 157 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −13°C | −8.4°C | 23 mm | 18 cm |
| February | −1°C | −11°C | −5.9°C | 29 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 6°C | −4°C | 1.1°C | 53 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 97 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 156 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 10.0°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | −4°C | 1.8°C | 50 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 0°C | −9°C | −4.9°C | 39 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00134142; 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 Iowa Falls?
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 (8).
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 USC00134142.
When is the last frost in Iowa Falls?
In Iowa Falls, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 26 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 281 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 184 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Iowa Falls in zone 5a in ZIP code 50126, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Iowa Falls's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (28 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 USC00134142; 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 Iowa Falls?
In a normal year in Iowa Falls, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 157 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 157a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 64high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 111°F, on July 14, 1936; the lowest is −34°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 53.57 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 56.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00134142; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00134142. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Iowa Falls?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Iowa Falls, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.9 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 71% | 2.1 |
| December | 66% | 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 Iowa Falls need?
A normal year in Iowa Falls brings 7,307 heating degree days, 36% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 693 cooling degree days, 24% 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 2,807 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,491 | 0 |
| February | 1,222 | 0 |
| March | 963 | 0 |
| April | 549 | 3 |
| May | 231 | 39 |
| June | 32 | 157 |
| July | 6 | 240 |
| August | 16 | 179 |
| September | 137 | 68 |
| October | 472 | 7 |
| November | 891 | 0 |
| December | 1,296 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,307 | 693 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00134142. 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 Iowa Falls been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 50.5°F, 3.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.7°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.9°F | +2.2°F | 28.15 | 31.5 |
| 2022 | 45.7°F | −1.0°F | 33.04 | 31.8 |
| 2024 | 50.5°F | +3.8°F | 42.35 | 26.8 |
Over 102 complete years from 1893 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00134142; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Iowa Falls's climate compare?
Iowa Falls is warmer than 34 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 97. 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, Iowa Falls 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 Iowa Falls 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.
- Ackley, IA1,538 people · 11 mi E
- Alden, IA738 people · 6 mi W
- Radcliffe, IA540 people · 17 mi SW
- Bradford, IA196 people · 8 mi N
- Buckeye, IA82 people · 9 mi SW
- Popejoy, IA76 people · 10 mi NW
- Owasa, IA30 people · 7 mi SE
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 Iowa Falls's climate
What is the coldest month in Iowa Falls?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Iowa Falls?
Yes: 28 inches in a normal year, falling on 18 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Iowa Falls?
June, with 6.13 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.92 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Iowa Falls in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Iowa Falls in zone 5a in ZIP code 50126, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Iowa Falls's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Iowa Falls?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Eldora, IA13 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Hampton, IA17 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Grundy Center, IA27 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Webster City, IA28 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made