Manhattan, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Manhattan's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 32.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.8°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 33°C, 817 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationManhattan Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00003936
- Location39.14°N 96.68°W
- Elevation1,057 ft (322 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population54,700
On October 22, the normal high in Manhattan is 67°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Manhattan.
- Jan 41° 18°
- Feb 46° 22°
- Mar 58° 32°
- Apr 67° 42°
- May 77° 53°
- Jun 87° 63°
- Jul 92° 68°
- Aug 90° 65°
- Sep 82° 56°
- Oct 69° 43°
- Nov 55° 30°
- Dec 44° 21°
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 Manhattan each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.83 in), the least in January (0.65 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 18°F | 29.4°F | 0.65 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 22°F | 34.0°F | 0.96 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 58°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 1.83 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 42°F | 54.6°F | 3.13 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 4.65 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 87°F | 63°F | 75.0°F | 4.83 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 68°F | 79.8°F | 4.01 | 8 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 65°F | 77.4°F | 4.64 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 82°F | 56°F | 68.8°F | 2.69 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 43°F | 56.1°F | 2.18 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 30°F | 42.9°F | 1.54 | 5 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 21°F | 32.3°F | 1.06 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 43°F | 55.0°F | 32.17 | 89 | 58 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −8°C | −1.4°C | 17 mm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 1.1°C | 24 mm |
| March | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 46 mm |
| April | 20°C | 5°C | 12.6°C | 80 mm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 118 mm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.9°C | 123 mm |
| July | 33°C | 20°C | 26.6°C | 102 mm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.2°C | 118 mm |
| September | 28°C | 13°C | 20.4°C | 68 mm |
| October | 21°C | 6°C | 13.4°C | 55 mm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 39 mm |
| December | 7°C | −6°C | 0.2°C | 27 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Manhattan's own co-op station Manhattan station does: 18 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003936; 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 Manhattan?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00003936.
When is the last frost in Manhattan?
In Manhattan, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 21 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 1 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 211 year in 10 after May 6; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 177 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Manhattan in zones 6a to 6b across its 2 ZIP code areas (6b in 66503, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Manhattan's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 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 Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00003936; 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 Manhattan ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Manhattan's 2 ZIP code areas run from zone 6a to 6b: 1 in 6a and 1 in 6b. 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 Manhattan?
In a normal year in Manhattan, 58 days a year reach 90°F (10 of them 100°F or more), 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 89 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 58a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 10a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 89a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 115°F, on August 19, 2023; the lowest is −21°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1961, with 39.67 in; the snowiest season is 1960–61, with 26.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003936; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003936. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Manhattan?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Manhattan, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and March the cloudiest (71%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 210th (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 82% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.5 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 2.0 |
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 Manhattan need?
A normal year in Manhattan brings 5,104 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,490 cooling degree days, 64% more 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 4,117 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,103 | 0 |
| February | 869 | 0 |
| March | 634 | 4 |
| April | 331 | 19 |
| May | 113 | 108 |
| June | 8 | 307 |
| July | 1 | 458 |
| August | 2 | 388 |
| September | 60 | 174 |
| October | 306 | 30 |
| November | 664 | 1 |
| December | 1,014 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,104 | 1,490 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003936. 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 Manhattan been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.4°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.0°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.9°F | +1.9°F | 28.10 |
| 2022 | 55.2°F | +0.2°F | 28.93 |
| 2023 | 57.4°F | +2.4°F | 23.93 |
| 2024 | 57.8°F | +2.8°F | 35.59 |
| 2025 | 55.4°F | +0.4°F | 33.45 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003936. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Manhattan's climate compare?
Manhattan is warmer than 71 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 69. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.0°F is warmer than 60%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Manhattan 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 Manhattan share this climate record?
2 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.
- Ogden, KS1,656 people · 2 mi SW
- Keats, KS129 people · 6 mi N
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 Manhattan's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Manhattan. This page uses Manhattan Municipal Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan (6 mi SSW) USW00053974 | 6 mi S | 1,137 ft | 55.0°F | 19°F | 90°F | 33.4 | – | April 19 |
| Manhattan station USC00144972 | 1 mi NE | 1,060 ft | 55.0°F | 19°F | 91°F | 35.8 | 18 | April 16 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Manhattan's climate
What is the coldest month in Manhattan?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Manhattan?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Manhattan's NOAA station; Manhattan's own co-op station Manhattan station records 18 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Manhattan?
June, with 4.83 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.65 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Manhattan in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Manhattan in zones 6a to 6b across its 2 ZIP code areas (6b in 66503, the largest). By the same method at Manhattan's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Manhattan?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 21; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Manhattan in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tuttle Creek Lake, KS9 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Milford, KS12 miles from this station, 54.7°F a year
- Wamego, KS17 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Chapman, KS22 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made