Lincoln, NE Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Lincoln's primary NOAA station, LINCOLN 11 SW - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 52°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 52°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 29.5"
- annual precipitation
- 175 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Lincoln: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00094996 · Lincoln, NE 52°F mean · 29.5" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,225
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Spickard
- PRCP-MID 29.5"
- SWING-WIDE 51°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,946 HDD
- STN-MULTI USW00094996
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Spickard, MO ( -0.1 °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.
- Lincoln (this station) 52°F
- Hot Amity, MO 52°F
- Near Clay Ctr, NE 52°F
- Cold Spickard, MO 51°F
- Near Kirksville, MO 51°F
Climate Living Index · Lincoln
Lincoln: 56/100 · grade C
Lincoln publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lincoln, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 29.5 in · 5.5 from 35 in | 80/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 136 calendar days | 55/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 51.5°F · 16.0° from 67.5°F | 47/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 175 days/year | 46/100 · D |
Lincoln · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lincoln is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 25.0°F and warmest-month mean 76.1°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
- 76.1°F
- Coldest month
- 25.0°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 Lincoln sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lincoln's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 47th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 39th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 84%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Lincoln is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lincoln compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lincoln's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (1°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.9" | 29.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.9" | 25.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 52°F (11°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.7" | 18.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 63°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.7" | 6.9 | 0.2 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 4.9" | 0.4 | 1.2 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.8" | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| July | 87°F (30°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 2.9" | 0.0 | 10.8 |
| August | 85°F (29°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 2.9" | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.0" | 0.0 | 4.0 |
| October | 65°F (18°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.4" | 5.9 | 0.5 |
| November | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.3" | 18.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 1.2" | 28.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 18, short of 90°F on every date, while 136 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 15°F near January 11.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 23, then returns to freezing around November 9, covering 136 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 31, when 41% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 13 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 101 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lincoln.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
6.6 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
Lincoln runs a summer-peaked wet season
36% of Lincoln'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 4.9", on a wide 51.1°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, September, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.9".
- Winter share: 10% 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 Lincoln's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 100 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 29.5" between them, or roughly 0.29 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
175 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,946
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,055
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NE closest to Lincoln 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 (52°F here).
- Baileyville, KS 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Bluefield, WV 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Caldwell, OH 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Centralia, WA 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (29.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Milford, IA 29.5" · 0.0" off
- Throckmorton, TX 29.5" · 0.0" off
- Willmar, MN 29.5" · 0.0" off
- Elk City, OK 29.5" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Lincoln's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Lincoln's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,946 annual heating degree days against 1,055 for cooling. Its 51.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Lincoln's frost-free season lasts about 175 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Lincoln's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 51.1°F. The annual average is 52°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Lincoln's 29.5 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Lincoln's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Lincoln, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Lincoln's climate
How much rain does Lincoln get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Lincoln get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lincoln? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lincoln's primary station: LINCOLN 11 SW (USW00094996). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Lincoln area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 3128000). Match rule for Lincoln: 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 Lincoln 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.