Lima, Ohio climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lima's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 35.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.8°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 29°C, 909 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLima Allen County Airport
- Station IDUSW00004850
- Location40.71°N 84.03°W
- Elevation975 ft (297 m)
- Population34,690
On October 14, the normal high in Lima is 65°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 37%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lima.
- Jan 34° 20°
- Feb 38° 22°
- Mar 48° 30°
- Apr 61° 40°
- May 72° 51°
- Jun 81° 61°
- Jul 84° 63°
- Aug 82° 61°
- Sep 76° 54°
- Oct 64° 44°
- Nov 50° 34°
- Dec 39° 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 Lima each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.95 in), the least in February (1.85 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 20°F | 27.1°F | 2.23 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 22°F | 29.9°F | 1.85 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 48°F | 30°F | 39.1°F | 2.55 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 40°F | 50.8°F | 3.58 | 14 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 51°F | 61.6°F | 3.81 | 15 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 61°F | 70.6°F | 3.95 | 13 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 63°F | 73.4°F | 3.68 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 82°F | 61°F | 71.5°F | 3.50 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 76°F | 54°F | 65.0°F | 2.85 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 44°F | 53.8°F | 2.69 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 34°F | 41.9°F | 2.81 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 26°F | 32.1°F | 2.27 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 42°F | 51.4°F | 35.77 | 139 | 14 | 116 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −7°C | −2.7°C | 57 mm |
| February | 3°C | −5°C | −1.2°C | 47 mm |
| March | 9°C | −1°C | 3.9°C | 65 mm |
| April | 16°C | 5°C | 10.4°C | 91 mm |
| May | 22°C | 11°C | 16.4°C | 97 mm |
| June | 27°C | 16°C | 21.4°C | 100 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.0°C | 93 mm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 89 mm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 72 mm |
| October | 18°C | 7°C | 12.1°C | 68 mm |
| November | 10°C | 1°C | 5.5°C | 71 mm |
| December | 4°C | −4°C | 0.1°C | 58 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Lima's own co-op station Lima Wastewater Treatment Plant does: 19 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004850; 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 Lima?
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 (11).
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 USW00004850.
When is the last frost in Lima?
In Lima, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 22 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 7 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 7; 9 in 10 after April 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 181 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 206 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 11 in half of springs and before November 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lima in zone 6a across its 3 ZIP code areas (6a in 45804, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lima's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (20 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 Ohio · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00004850; 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 Lima ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Lima's 3 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6a. 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 Lima?
In a normal year in Lima, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 116 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 139 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 116a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 139a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00004850.
How sunny is Lima?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lima, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (57%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 58% | 1.7 |
| February | 63% | 2.6 |
| March | 65% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.5 |
| October | 70% | 3.0 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 57% | 1.5 |
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 Lima need?
A normal year in Lima brings 5,769 heating degree days, 7% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 847 cooling degree days, 7% 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 3,226 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,175 | 0 |
| February | 984 | 0 |
| March | 805 | 2 |
| April | 435 | 8 |
| May | 169 | 65 |
| June | 25 | 191 |
| July | 3 | 263 |
| August | 9 | 210 |
| September | 90 | 91 |
| October | 362 | 16 |
| November | 693 | 0 |
| December | 1,020 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,769 | 847 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004850. 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 Lima been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.2°F, 0.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 51.4°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.3°F | +1.9°F | 40.10 |
| 2022 | 52.1°F | +0.7°F | 39.38 |
| 2023 | 53.8°F | +2.4°F | 32.21 |
| 2025 | 51.2°F | −0.2°F | 29.60 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00004850. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lima's climate compare?
Lima is warmer than 47 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Ohio, and wetter than 7. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.4°F is warmer than 47%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lima 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 Lima share this climate record?
15 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.
- Wapakoneta, OH9,817 people · 13 mi SW
- Fort Shawnee, OH5,952 people · 7 mi W
- Ada, OH5,293 people · 11 mi E
- Elida, OH1,904 people · 11 mi NW
- Cridersville, OH1,745 people · 7 mi SW
- Alger, OH828 people · 10 mi E
- Waynesfield, OH741 people · 8 mi S
- Cairo, OH508 people · 9 mi N
- Westminster, OH477 people · 3 mi E
- Harrod, OH427 people · 6 mi E
- Lafayette, OH395 people · 5 mi NE
- St. Johns, OH315 people · 11 mi S
- Uniopolis, OH237 people · 8 mi SW
- Buckland, OH228 people · 14 mi SW
- Gomer, OH168 people · 12 mi NW
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 Lima's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Lima. This page uses Lima Allen County Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima Wastewater Treatment Plant USC00334551 | 5 mi W | 850 ft | 51.0°F | 19°F | 84°F | 41.2 | 19 | April 24 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Lima's climate
What is the coldest month in Lima?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Lima?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Lima's NOAA station; Lima's own co-op station Lima Wastewater Treatment Plant records 19 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Lima?
June, with 3.95 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.85 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lima in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lima in zone 6a across its 3 ZIP code areas (6a in 45804, the largest). By the same method at Lima's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Lima?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 22; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Ohio climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pandora, OH17 miles from this station, 51.3°F a year
- Huntsville, OH19 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Kenton, OH22 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Bellefontaine, OH28 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made