Mapleton, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mapleton's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 32.2 inches of precipitation and 31 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.4°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 29°C, 818 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMapleton No.2
- Station IDUSC00135123
- Location42.16°N 95.78°W
- Elevation1,200 ft (366 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,114
On October 23, the normal high in Mapleton is 59°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Mapleton.
- Jan 28° 9°
- Feb 33° 13°
- Mar 47° 24°
- Apr 60° 35°
- May 71° 47°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 82° 59°
- Sep 75° 50°
- Oct 62° 37°
- Nov 46° 24°
- Dec 33° 14°
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 Mapleton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.78 in), the least in January (0.76 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 9°F | 18.3°F | 0.76 | 6.7 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 33°F | 13°F | 22.9°F | 0.92 | 8.6 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 24°F | 35.2°F | 1.80 | 4.4 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 35°F | 47.2°F | 3.40 | 1.3 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 47°F | 59.0°F | 4.78 | 0.1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.4°F | 4.55 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.1°F | 4.18 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 82°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 3.83 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 50°F | 62.6°F | 3.12 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 37°F | 49.7°F | 2.26 | 0.6 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 24°F | 35.1°F | 1.46 | 2.3 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 33°F | 14°F | 23.4°F | 1.13 | 7.1 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 36°F | 47.2°F | 32.19 | 31.1 | 86 | 20 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −13°C | −7.6°C | 19 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 1°C | −11°C | −5.1°C | 23 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 8°C | −4°C | 1.8°C | 46 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 86 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 15.0°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.0°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 57 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.7°C | 37 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −10°C | −4.8°C | 29 mm | 18 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135123; 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 Mapleton?
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 (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 USC00135123.
When is the last frost in Mapleton?
In Mapleton, 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 1 in half of years and before September 19 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 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 151 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 170 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mapleton in zone 5a in ZIP code 51034, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mapleton's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (22 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 USC00135123; 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 Mapleton?
In a normal year in Mapleton, 20 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 53high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1937) is 106°F, on July 29, 1947; the lowest is −35°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2014, with 43.37 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 63.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00135123; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00135123. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mapleton?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mapleton, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.7 |
| June | 77% | 6.4 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.5 |
| October | 74% | 3.1 |
| November | 73% | 2.2 |
| December | 70% | 1.7 |
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 Mapleton need?
A normal year in Mapleton brings 7,195 heating degree days, 34% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 738 cooling degree days, 19% 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 2,856 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,447 | 0 |
| February | 1,180 | 0 |
| March | 923 | 0 |
| April | 536 | 4 |
| May | 230 | 43 |
| June | 33 | 166 |
| July | 7 | 258 |
| August | 22 | 186 |
| September | 146 | 72 |
| October | 485 | 9 |
| November | 897 | 0 |
| December | 1,289 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,195 | 738 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135123. 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 Mapleton been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 47.4°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.2°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.5°F | +2.3°F | 28.04 | 40.5 |
| 2022 | 47.4°F | +0.2°F | 20.89 | 9.0 |
Over 66 complete years from 1938 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00135123; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Mapleton's climate compare?
Mapleton is warmer than 51 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.2°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mapleton 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 Mapleton 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.
- Charter Oak, IA521 people · 12 mi SE
- Danbury, IA315 people · 6 mi NE
- Smithland, IA184 people · 9 mi NW
- Ricketts, IA105 people · 11 mi E
- Oto, IA71 people · 10 mi NW
- Rodney, IA43 people · 9 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 Mapleton's climate
What is the coldest month in Mapleton?
January, with a normal high of 28°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Mapleton?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 14 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Mapleton?
May, with 4.78 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.76 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mapleton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mapleton in zone 5a in ZIP code 51034, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Mapleton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Mapleton?
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
- Castana, IA7 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Battle Creek, IA18 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Onawa, IA19 miles from this station, 48.5°F a year
- Ida Grove, IA21 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made