Lowden, IA 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 Lowden's primary NOAA station, LOWDEN.
The climate verdict for Lowden
Lowden, Iowa has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 49°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 49°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 39.6"
- annual precipitation · 40" snow
- 166 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Lowden: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00134963 · Lowden, IA 49°F mean · 39.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 49°F
- RANK-COOL #2,470
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ord Evelyn Shar…
- PRCP-MID 39.6"
- SWING-WIDE 53°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,633 HDD
- STN-1 USC00134963
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ord Evelyn Sharp Fld, NE (+ 0 °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 IA station list.
- Lowden (this station) 49°F
- Hot Greenfield, IA 49°F
- Near Ord Evelyn Shar…, NE 49°F
- Near Longvalley, SD 49°F
- Near Oglala, SD 49°F
Climate Living Index · Lowden
Lowden: 47/100 · grade D
Lowden publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lowden, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 39.6 in · 4.6 from 35 in | 84/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 149 calendar days | 47/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 166 days/year | 38/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 49.0°F · 18.5° from 67.5°F | 36/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 39.8 inches/year | 28/100 · F |
Lowden · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lowden is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 20.3°F and warmest-month mean 73.7°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
- 73.7°F
- Coldest month
- 20.3°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 Lowden sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lowden's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 36th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 57th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 89%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Lowden is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lowden compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lowden's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 1.6" | 11.2" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 34°F (1°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 1.8" | 8.0" | 26.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 2.8" | 6.2" | 23.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 62°F (16°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 4.1" | 1.7" | 10.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 5.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| July | 85°F (30°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.3 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 4.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.2 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 2.9 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.2" | 0.7" | 9.0 | 0.2 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 2.3" | 2.9" | 21.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 2.0" | 9.1" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 149 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 11°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 30, then returns to freezing around November 3, covering 149 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 30, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 3 at 29%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 124 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lowden.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 11.2"
10.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
9.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.2"
10.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.7"
12.2 days with precipitation
13.0 days with precipitation
12.7 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
9.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.9"
9.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.1"
10.1 days with precipitation
Lowden spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 35% of the annual total and December through February 14%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lowden has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 53.4°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 5.1" and January 1.6". The three wettest months together take 36% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Lowden's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 124 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 39.6" between them, or roughly 0.32 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.
Winter brings real snow to Lowden
Lowden averages 39.8 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 29 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 39.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 29 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 10% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 10
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 27
50% probability date
Growing Season
166 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,633
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
849
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Lowden 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 (49°F here).
- Altona, IL 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Burney, CA 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Cairo, NY 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Condon, OR 49°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (39.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hastings, MI 39.6" · 0.0" off
- Galena, IL 39.6" · 0.0" off
- Port Aransas, TX 39.6" · 0.0" off
- Kewanee, IL 39.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Lowden
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Lowden's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,633 annual heating degree days against 849 for cooling. Its 53.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Lowden's frost-free season lasts about 166 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Lowden coldest normal
January
Averaging 20°F (-6°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Lowden typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Lowden snow peak
January
Lowden averages 39.8 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Lowden's climate
How much snow does Lowden get? ▼
How cold does Lowden get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lowden? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lowden's primary station: LOWDEN (USC00134963). 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 1946920). Match rule for Lowden: 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 Lowden 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.