Lee's Summit, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lee's Summit's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 38.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.2°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 31°C, 974 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLees Summit Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053879
- Location38.96°N 94.37°W
- Elevation997 ft (304 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population106,419
On October 14, the normal high in Lee's Summit is 68°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lee's Summit.
- Jan 39° 22°
- Feb 44° 26°
- Mar 55° 35°
- Apr 66° 46°
- May 75° 56°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 88° 70°
- Aug 87° 68°
- Sep 79° 59°
- Oct 67° 47°
- Nov 54° 36°
- Dec 43° 26°
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 Lee's Summit each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.70 in), the least in January (0.96 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 22°F | 30.6°F | 0.96 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 26°F | 35.1°F | 1.43 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 35°F | 45.4°F | 2.14 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 46°F | 55.5°F | 4.19 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 56°F | 65.3°F | 5.70 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.7°F | 4.95 | 11 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 88°F | 70°F | 79.0°F | 4.57 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 87°F | 68°F | 77.3°F | 4.54 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 59°F | 69.0°F | 3.07 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 47°F | 57.2°F | 3.39 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 54°F | 36°F | 45.1°F | 2.05 | 6 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 43°F | 26°F | 34.7°F | 1.35 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 46°F | 55.7°F | 38.34 | 103 | 38 | 96 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −5°C | −0.8°C | 24 mm |
| February | 7°C | −3°C | 1.7°C | 36 mm |
| March | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 54 mm |
| April | 19°C | 8°C | 13.1°C | 106 mm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.5°C | 145 mm |
| June | 29°C | 19°C | 23.7°C | 126 mm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 116 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.2°C | 115 mm |
| September | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 78 mm |
| October | 19°C | 8°C | 14.0°C | 86 mm |
| November | 12°C | 2°C | 7.3°C | 52 mm |
| December | 6°C | −3°C | 1.5°C | 34 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Independence (7 miles away), gets 13 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053879; 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 Lee's Summit?
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 (9).
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 USW00053879.
When is the last frost in Lee's Summit?
In Lee's Summit, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 29 in half of years and before October 14 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 71 year in 10 after April 24; 9 in 10 after March 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 291 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 202 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 224 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 28 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lee's Summit in zone 6b across its 5 ZIP code areas (6b in 64082, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lee's Summit's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053879; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Lee's Summit ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Lee's Summit's 5 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Lee's Summit?
In a normal year in Lee's Summit, 38 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 96 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 103 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 96a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 24high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 103a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053879.
How sunny is Lee's Summit?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lee's Summit, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and March the cloudiest (69%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 276th (with 27 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.3 |
| February | 70% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.0 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.5 |
| November | 74% | 2.5 |
| December | 71% | 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 much heating and cooling does Lee's Summit need?
A normal year in Lee's Summit brings 4,786 heating degree days, 11% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,446 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 4,183 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,068 | 0 |
| February | 837 | 0 |
| March | 611 | 3 |
| April | 306 | 21 |
| May | 97 | 108 |
| June | 5 | 296 |
| July | 1 | 434 |
| August | 2 | 381 |
| September | 48 | 168 |
| October | 276 | 33 |
| November | 599 | 2 |
| December | 938 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,786 | 1,446 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053879. 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 Lee's Summit been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 58.1°F, 2.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.7°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.6°F | +0.9°F | 33.46 |
| 2023 | 58.1°F | +2.4°F | 31.31 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053879. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lee's Summit's climate compare?
Lee's Summit is warmer than 78 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 6. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.7°F is warmer than 63%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lee's Summit 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 Lee's Summit share this climate record?
5 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.
- Blue Springs, MOalso near: Independence (7 mi, 54.0°F a year); Lees Summit Reed Wildlife Refuge (10 mi, 53.0°F a year)61,246 people · 7 mi NE
- Leawood, KS34,013 people · 14 mi W
- Raytown, MO29,244 people · 5 mi NW
- Grain Valley, MO16,859 people · 9 mi NE
- Unity Village, MO60 people · 2 mi W
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 Lee's Summit's climate
What is the coldest month in Lee's Summit?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 70°F at night).
Does it snow in Lee's Summit?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lee's Summit's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Independence (7 miles away), records 13 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lee's Summit?
May, with 5.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.96 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lee's Summit in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lee's Summit in zone 6b across its 5 ZIP code areas (6b in 64082, the largest). By the same method at Lee's Summit's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Lee's Summit?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; 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
- Lee's Summit in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lees Summit Reed Wildlife Refuge, MO6 miles from this station, 53.0°F a year
- Independence, MO7 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Pleasant Hill, MO12 miles from this station, 55.2°F a year
- Kansas City Downtown Airport, MO16 miles from this station, 56.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made