Kearney, NE Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Kearney's primary NOAA station, KEARNEY 4 NE.
The climate verdict for Kearney
Kearney, Nebraska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 50°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 50°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 25.6"
- annual precipitation · 22" snow
- 163 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Kearney: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00254335 · Kearney, NE 50°F mean · 25.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-COOL #2,676
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ North Platte Rg…
- PRCP-MID 25.6"
- SWING-WIDE 50°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,387 HDD
- STN-1 USC00254335
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: North Platte Rgnl, NE (+ 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 NE station list.
- Kearney (this station) 50°F
- Cold Madrid, NE 50°F
- Hot Holdrege, NE 50°F
- Near North Platte Rg…, NE 50°F
- Near Utah Test Range, UT 50°F
Climate Living Index · Kearney
Kearney: 45/100 · grade D
Kearney publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Kearney, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 25.6 in · 9.4 from 35 in | 67/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 21.8 inches/year | 47/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 158 calendar days | 41/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 49.9°F · 17.6° from 67.5°F | 40/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 163 days/year | 36/100 · F |
Kearney · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Kearney is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 24.8°F and warmest-month mean 74.8°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 74.8°F
- Coldest month
- 24.8°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 · heating-led station
Where Kearney sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Kearney's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 39th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 35th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 81%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Kearney is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Kearney compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Kearney's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Kearney's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 86 complete annual observations from 1904 to 2025, KEARNEY 4 NE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.04°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Kearney primary station fitted change +0.04 °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 | 36°F (2°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 3.7" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (4°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.6" | 5.6" | 26.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 51°F (11°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.5" | 3.5" | 24.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 62°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 2.7" | 1.9" | 11.2 | 0.3 |
| May | 72°F (22°C) | 47°F (9°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 4.4" | 0.1" | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.6 |
| July | 87°F (30°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.0 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| October | 65°F (18°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.1" | 0.8" | 8.1 | 0.4 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.0" | 2.8" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.7" | 3.4" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 13, short of 90°F on every date, while 158 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 14°F near January 11.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 4, then returns to freezing around October 30, covering 158 dates in all.
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 May 23, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 16 at 11%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 82 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 29 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Kearney.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 3.7"
3.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.6"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.5"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
8.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
11.7 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.4"
3.5 days with precipitation
Kearney runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Kearney's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is May at 4.4", on a wide 50°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: May, June, July, taking 46% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 7% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Kearney's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 82 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 25.6" between them, or roughly 0.31 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Kearney
Kearney averages 21.8 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 13 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 21.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 13 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 9% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 10
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
163 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,387
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
904
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NE closest to Kearney 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 (50°F here).
- Cedar Rapids, IA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Centerville, IA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Chalmers, IN 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Coulee Dam, WA 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (25.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Petaluma, CA 25.6" · 0.0" off
- Quanah, TX 25.6" · 0.0" off
- Tilden, TX 25.6" · 0.0" off
- Vacaville, CA 25.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Kearney
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Kearney's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,387 annual heating degree days against 904 for cooling. Its 50.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Kearney's frost-free season lasts about 163 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Kearney coldest normal
January
Averaging 25°F (-4°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Kearney typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Kearney snow peak
February
Kearney averages 21.8 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Kearney's climate
How much snow does Kearney get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Kearney get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Kearney? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Kearney's primary station: KEARNEY 4 NE (USC00254335). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3125055). Match rule for Kearney: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Kearney 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.