Lowden, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lowden's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 39.6 inches of precipitation and 40 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.4°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,006 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLowden
- Station IDUSC00134963
- Location41.86°N 90.92°W
- Elevation738 ft (225 m)
- Population767
On October 24, the normal high in Lowden is 60°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lowden.
- Jan 29° 12°
- Feb 34° 15°
- Mar 48° 27°
- Apr 62° 37°
- May 73° 50°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 85° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 77° 51°
- Oct 64° 39°
- Nov 48° 27°
- Dec 34° 18°
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 Lowden each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.08 in), the least in January (1.58 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 12°F | 20.3°F | 1.58 | 11.2 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 34°F | 15°F | 24.7°F | 1.80 | 8.0 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 48°F | 27°F | 37.1°F | 2.80 | 6.2 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 37°F | 49.4°F | 4.10 | 1.7 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 50°F | 61.4°F | 4.48 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 70.9°F | 5.08 | 0.0 | 13 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 62°F | 73.7°F | 4.55 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.5°F | 4.14 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 51°F | 64.0°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 39°F | 51.5°F | 3.16 | 0.7 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 27°F | 37.8°F | 2.31 | 2.9 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 18°F | 26.0°F | 2.04 | 9.1 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 38°F | 49.0°F | 39.59 | 39.8 | 124 | 21 | 150 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −11°C | −6.5°C | 40 mm | 28 cm |
| February | 1°C | −9°C | −4.1°C | 46 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 71 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.7°C | 104 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.9°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 17.8°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 80 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 3.2°C | 59 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 1°C | −8°C | −3.3°C | 52 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00134963; 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 Lowden?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. 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 USC00134963.
When is the last frost in Lowden?
In Lowden, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 25 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 271 year in 10 after May 13; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lowden in zone 5a in ZIP code 52255, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lowden's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00134963; 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 Lowden?
In a normal year in Lowden, 21 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 150 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 150a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 54high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 2000) is 103°F, on July 7, 2012; the lowest is −37°F, on January 16, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2009, with 54.84 in; the snowiest season is 2018–19, with 62.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00134963; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00134963. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lowden?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lowden, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.8 |
| February | 70% | 2.8 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 81% | 4.5 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 69% | 2.1 |
| December | 63% | 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 Lowden need?
A normal year in Lowden brings 6,633 heating degree days, 23% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 849 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 3,115 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,384 | 0 |
| February | 1,128 | 0 |
| March | 866 | 1 |
| April | 473 | 5 |
| May | 177 | 65 |
| June | 15 | 193 |
| July | 5 | 274 |
| August | 11 | 212 |
| September | 118 | 86 |
| October | 432 | 12 |
| November | 817 | 1 |
| December | 1,207 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,633 | 849 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00134963. 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 Lowden been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.8°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.4°F | +1.4°F | 30.71 | 44.3 |
| 2022 | 48.1°F | −0.9°F | 34.31 | 39.4 |
| 2023 | 51.5°F | +2.5°F | 28.54 | 55.9 |
| 2024 | 52.7°F | +3.7°F | 47.76 | 44.1 |
| 2025 | 50.8°F | +1.8°F | 39.42 | 50.6 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00134963. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lowden's climate compare?
Lowden is warmer than 87 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 122. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.0°F is warmer than 36%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lowden 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 Lowden 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.
- Clarence, IA991 people · 7 mi W
- Wheatland, IA765 people · 5 mi SE
- Wyoming, IA526 people · 14 mi N
- Lost Nation, IA425 people · 9 mi NE
- Oxford Junction, IA424 people · 9 mi N
- Calamus, IA348 people · 9 mi E
- New Liberty, IA141 people · 10 mi S
- Toronto, IA101 people · 4 mi NE
- Big Rock, IA12 people · 8 mi SE
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 Lowden's climate
What is the coldest month in Lowden?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Lowden?
Yes: 40 inches in a normal year, falling on 29 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lowden?
June, with 5.08 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.58 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lowden in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lowden in zone 5a in ZIP code 52255, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lowden's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Lowden?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 13. Waiting until May 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tipton, IA12 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Maquoketa, IA20 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Davenport, IA25 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Anamosa, IA25 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made