Kingsley Dam, Nebraska climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Kingsley Dam's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 19.2 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.0°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 31°C, 488 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKingsley Dam
- Station IDUSC00254455
- Location41.21°N 101.67°W
- Elevation3,318 ft (1,011 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Kingsley Dam is 59°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Kingsley Dam.
- Jan 36° 18°
- Feb 40° 19°
- Mar 51° 28°
- Apr 59° 36°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 81° 57°
- Jul 87° 63°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 77° 52°
- Oct 62° 39°
- Nov 49° 28°
- Dec 38° 20°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Kingsley Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.35 in), the least in January (0.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 18°F | 27.0°F | 0.33 | 4.0 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 40°F | 19°F | 29.3°F | 0.61 | 5.2 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 28°F | 39.2°F | 0.92 | 3.2 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 36°F | 47.6°F | 2.08 | 2.3 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.0°F | 3.35 | 0.2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 3.24 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 87°F | 63°F | 74.9°F | 2.84 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 72.9°F | 1.99 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 52°F | 64.3°F | 1.58 | 0.0 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 39°F | 50.6°F | 1.35 | 0.9 | 6 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 28°F | 38.5°F | 0.51 | 2.1 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 20°F | 29.3°F | 0.41 | 3.5 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 39°F | 50.0°F | 19.21 | 21.4 | 78 | 41 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −8°C | −2.8°C | 8 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.5°C | 15 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 10°C | −2°C | 4.0°C | 23 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 53 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 85 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 34 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 13 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 3°C | −6°C | −1.5°C | 10 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00254455; 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.
Which months are mildest at Kingsley Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00254455.
When is the last frost at Kingsley Dam?
In Kingsley Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 22 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 2 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 221 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 176 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 196 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kingsley Dam in zone 5b in ZIP code 69153, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00254455; 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 at Kingsley Dam?
In a normal year in Kingsley Dam, 41 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 41a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 32high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1938) is 111°F, on July 11, 1954; the lowest is −24°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 26.80 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 90.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00254455; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00254455. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Kingsley Dam?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Kingsley Dam, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.3 |
| February | 75% | 3.1 |
| March | 76% | 4.4 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 6.3 |
| June | 84% | 7.2 |
| July | 87% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 85% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 3.5 |
| November | 79% | 2.5 |
| December | 76% | 2.0 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Kingsley Dam record?
A normal year at Kingsley Dam brings 6,273 heating degree days, 17% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 857 cooling degree days, 6% 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 3,020 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,178 | 0 |
| February | 998 | 0 |
| March | 800 | 0 |
| April | 525 | 2 |
| May | 249 | 34 |
| June | 40 | 158 |
| July | 4 | 311 |
| August | 11 | 256 |
| September | 113 | 90 |
| October | 453 | 5 |
| November | 795 | 0 |
| December | 1,107 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,273 | 857 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00254455. 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.
Have recent years at Kingsley Dam been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 51.7°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.3°F | +1.3°F | 26.49 | 27.4 |
| 2022 | 50.2°F | +0.2°F | 8.67 | 26.1 |
| 2023 | 50.0°F | at normal | 20.99 | 45.9 |
| 2024 | 52.5°F | +2.5°F | 17.25 | 12.3 |
| 2025 | 51.7°F | +1.7°F | 19.29 | 19.5 |
Over 67 complete years from 1946 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.8°F per century (+0.21°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00254455; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Kingsley Dam's climate compare?
Kingsley Dam is warmer than 70 of the 137 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.0°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kingsley Dam 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 Kingsley Dam share this climate record?
6 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.
- Paxton, NE506 people · 18 mi E
- Belmar, NE113 people · 15 mi NW
- Martin, NE86 people · 4 mi NW
- Roscoe, NE84 people · 7 mi SE
- Lemoyne, NE57 people · 9 mi NW
- Keystone, NE16 people · 5 mi E
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 Kingsley Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Kingsley Dam?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow at Kingsley Dam?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Kingsley Dam?
May, with 3.35 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kingsley Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kingsley Dam in zone 5b in ZIP code 69153, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come at Kingsley Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 22; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ogallala, NE6 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Big Springs, NE23 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Arthur, NE25 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Madrid, NE25 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made