Kirksville, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Kirksville's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 39.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.1°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 30°C, 997 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKirksville Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00014938
- Location40.10°N 92.54°W
- Elevation966 ft (294 m)
- Population17,841
On October 23, the normal high in Kirksville is 61°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Kirksville.
- Jan 34° 17°
- Feb 40° 21°
- Mar 52° 31°
- Apr 63° 41°
- May 72° 52°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 84° 63°
- Sep 77° 54°
- Oct 65° 43°
- Nov 51° 31°
- Dec 39° 22°
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 Kirksville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.07 in), the least in January (1.60 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 17°F | 25.8°F | 1.60 | 8 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 40°F | 21°F | 30.1°F | 1.77 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 31°F | 41.2°F | 2.62 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 41°F | 52.1°F | 3.93 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 52°F | 62.1°F | 5.02 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.6°F | 5.07 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.4°F | 4.35 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 3.94 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 54°F | 65.5°F | 3.65 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 43°F | 53.8°F | 3.24 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 31°F | 41.1°F | 2.41 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 22°F | 30.6°F | 1.67 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 42°F | 51.9°F | 39.27 | 114 | 24 | 125 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −8°C | −3.4°C | 41 mm |
| February | 4°C | −6°C | −1.1°C | 45 mm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 67 mm |
| April | 17°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 100 mm |
| May | 22°C | 11°C | 16.7°C | 128 mm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.0°C | 129 mm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 110 mm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 100 mm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 93 mm |
| October | 18°C | 6°C | 12.1°C | 82 mm |
| November | 11°C | 0°C | 5.1°C | 61 mm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.8°C | 42 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Kirksville's own co-op station Kirksville station does: 19 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014938; 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 Kirksville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, 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 USW00014938.
When is the last frost in Kirksville?
In Kirksville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 1 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 191 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 180 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 201 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 9 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kirksville in zone 6a in ZIP code 63501, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Kirksville's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (22 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 Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014938; 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 Kirksville?
In a normal year in Kirksville, 24 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 125 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 24a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 125a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 108°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −21°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 64.54 in; the snowiest season is 1964–65, with 50.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014938; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00014938. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Kirksville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Kirksville, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.9 |
| February | 69% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 72% | 2.2 |
| December | 66% | 1.7 |
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 Kirksville need?
A normal year in Kirksville brings 5,746 heating degree days, 7% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,009 cooling degree days, 11% 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 3,447 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,215 | 0 |
| February | 979 | 0 |
| March | 739 | 1 |
| April | 395 | 9 |
| May | 156 | 64 |
| June | 16 | 214 |
| July | 2 | 325 |
| August | 6 | 272 |
| September | 91 | 106 |
| October | 364 | 18 |
| November | 719 | 1 |
| December | 1,066 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,746 | 1,009 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014938. 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 Kirksville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.8°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.9°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.4°F | +1.5°F | 43.39 |
| 2022 | 51.1°F | −0.8°F | 30.91 |
| 2023 | 53.8°F | +1.9°F | 34.36 |
| 2024 | 54.7°F | +2.8°F | 41.22 |
| 2025 | 52.8°F | +0.9°F | 35.70 |
Over 52 complete years from 1948 to 2025, 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 USW00014938; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Kirksville's climate compare?
Kirksville is warmer than 12 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 13. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.9°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kirksville 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 Kirksville 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 Plata, MO1,244 people · 6 mi SE
- Greentop, MO390 people · 18 mi N
- Novinger, MO384 people · 13 mi NW
- Brashear, MO241 people · 9 mi E
- Hurdland, MO155 people · 13 mi E
- Millard, MO81 people · 1 mi N
- Gibbs, MO76 people · 7 mi E
- Elmer, MO51 people · 11 mi SW
- South Gifford, MO21 people · 9 mi SW
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 Kirksville's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Kirksville. This page uses Kirksville Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirksville station USC00234544 | 8 mi N | 970 ft | 51.4°F | 15°F | 86°F | 42.5 | 19 | April 21 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Kirksville's climate
What is the coldest month in Kirksville?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Kirksville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Kirksville's NOAA station; Kirksville's own co-op station Kirksville station records 19 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Kirksville?
June, with 5.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.60 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kirksville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kirksville in zone 6a in ZIP code 63501, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Kirksville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Kirksville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Long Branch Reservoir, MO24 miles from this station, 53.9°F a year
- Green City, MO27 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Memphis, MO31 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Unionville, MO35 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made