Manchester, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Manchester's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 38.6 inches of precipitation and 35 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.9°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 980 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationManchester #2
- Station IDUSC00135086
- Location42.47°N 91.45°W
- Elevation990 ft (302 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population5,283
On October 23, the normal high in Manchester is 58°F and the normal low 35°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 Manchester.
- Jan 26° 8°
- Feb 31° 12°
- Mar 44° 24°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 70° 47°
- Jun 79° 58°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 74° 49°
- Oct 61° 37°
- Nov 45° 26°
- Dec 32° 15°
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 Manchester each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (6.02 in), the least in January (1.14 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 8°F | 17.1°F | 1.14 | 9.2 | 9 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 12°F | 21.3°F | 1.35 | 8.7 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 24°F | 33.8°F | 2.10 | 4.2 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 3.82 | 1.4 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 47°F | 58.3°F | 4.49 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 58°F | 68.3°F | 6.02 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.6°F | 4.79 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 69.3°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 49°F | 61.5°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 37°F | 49.2°F | 3.11 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 2.20 | 2.3 | 8 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 32°F | 15°F | 23.6°F | 1.58 | 8.5 | 9 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 36°F | 46.3°F | 38.57 | 34.7 | 117 | 9 | 158 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −8.3°C | 29 mm | 23 cm |
| February | −1°C | −11°C | −5.9°C | 34 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 7°C | −5°C | 1.0°C | 53 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 97 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 153 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 22.0°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 16.4°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 79 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 56 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −9°C | −4.7°C | 40 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135086; 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 Manchester?
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 (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 USC00135086.
When is the last frost in Manchester?
In Manchester, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 22 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
- May 31 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Manchester in zone 5a in ZIP code 52057, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Manchester's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 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 USC00135086; 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 Manchester?
In a normal year in Manchester, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 158 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 158a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 62high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1976) is 102°F, on July 26, 2012; the lowest is −36°F, on January 16, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2008, with 52.68 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 65.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00135086; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00135086. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Manchester?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Manchester, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.8 |
| February | 72% | 2.9 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 69% | 2.0 |
| 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 Manchester need?
A normal year in Manchester brings 7,392 heating degree days, 38% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 617 cooling degree days, 32% 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 2,660 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,483 | 0 |
| February | 1,224 | 0 |
| March | 969 | 0 |
| April | 564 | 3 |
| May | 247 | 37 |
| June | 41 | 141 |
| July | 11 | 214 |
| August | 25 | 157 |
| September | 161 | 57 |
| October | 497 | 7 |
| November | 888 | 0 |
| December | 1,283 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,392 | 617 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135086. 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 Manchester been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.6°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.5°F | +1.2°F | 32.16 | 35.3 |
| 2022 | 44.8°F | −1.5°F | 35.25 | 27.1 |
| 2023 | 48.6°F | +2.3°F | 30.33 | 26.2 |
| 2024 | 50.2°F | +3.9°F | 43.36 | 27.2 |
| 2025 | 48.6°F | +2.3°F | 40.61 | 31.0 |
Over 44 complete years from 1978 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.9°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00135086; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Manchester's climate compare?
Manchester is warmer than 25 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 103. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.3°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Manchester is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Manchester share this climate record?
6 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.
- Earlville, IA713 people · 9 mi E
- Delhi, IA438 people · 7 mi SE
- Greeley, IA216 people · 10 mi NE
- Dundee, IA193 people · 9 mi NW
- Delaware, IA139 people · 6 mi E
- Masonville, IA98 people · 7 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 Manchester's climate
What is the coldest month in Manchester?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Manchester?
Yes: 35 inches in a normal year, falling on 26 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Manchester?
June, with 6.02 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.14 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Manchester in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Manchester in zone 5a in ZIP code 52057, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Manchester's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Manchester?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Coggon, IA14 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Elkader, IA21 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Independence, IA22 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Stanley, IA24 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made