McCook, NE Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from McCook's primary NOAA station, MCCOOK MUNI AP - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for McCook
McCook, Nebraska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 52°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 52°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 20.1"
- annual precipitation
- 161 days
- frost-free growing season
McCook: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00094040 · McCook, NE 52°F mean · 20.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Oak City
- PRCP-DRY 20.1"
- SWING-WIDE 49°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,776 HDD
- STN-MULTI USW00094040
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Oak City, UT (+ 0.1 °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 NE station list.
- McCook (this station) 52°F
- Cold Oberlin, KS 52°F
- Hot Benkelman, NE 52°F
- Near Oak City, UT 52°F
- Near Harlan County L…, NE 52°F
Climate Living Index · McCook
McCook: 37/100 · grade F
McCook publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for McCook, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 52.2°F · 15.3° from 67.5°F | 50/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 20.1 in · 14.9 from 35 in | 47/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 161 days/year | 34/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 192 calendar days | 18/100 · F |
McCook · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
McCook is a continental Köppen climate: Dwa
Coldest-month mean 28.7°F and warmest-month mean 77.6°F place this station in continental, dry-winter, hot summer climates (Dwa). Class Dwa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-winter, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dwa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 77.6°F
- Coldest month
- 28.7°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 McCook sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for McCook's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 50th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 72%
- McCook's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 77%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for McCook is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How McCook compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
McCook's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | 41°F (5°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.3" | N/A | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 45°F (7°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.3" | N/A | 26.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (13°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 0.9" | N/A | 22.7 | 0.1 |
| April | 65°F (18°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 1.8" | N/A | 9.7 | 0.4 |
| May | 75°F (24°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.1" | N/A | 1.5 | 3.2 |
| June | 86°F (30°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 11.7 |
| July | 91°F (33°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 3.3" | N/A | 0.0 | 20.7 |
| August | 89°F (31°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 3.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 15.6 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 1.6" | N/A | 0.3 | 8.2 |
| October | 68°F (20°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 1.4" | N/A | 8.2 | 0.9 |
| November | 53°F (12°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 0.6" | N/A | 23.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 42°F (6°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.4" | N/A | 30.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
McCook works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 92°F by July 13 and hold at or above 90°F on 38 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 154 dates, bottoming at 16°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 30 through August 6, covering 38 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 4 to October 10.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 30, then returns to freezing around October 29, covering 154 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 28, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 6 at 9%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 79 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for McCook.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
2.7 days with precipitation
3.4 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
3.5 days with precipitation
3.2 days with precipitation
McCook runs a summer-peaked wet season
48% of McCook's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is July at 3.3", on a wide 48.9°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: July, August, June, taking 48% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.3".
- Winter share: 5% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How McCook's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 79 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 20.1" between them, or roughly 0.25 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 9
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
161 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,776
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,155
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NE closest to McCook 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 (52°F here).
- Ashland, OR 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Athens, WV 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Corvallis, OR 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Crescent City, CA 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (20.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Clovis, NM 20.1" · 0.0" off
- McLaughlin, SD 20.1" · 0.0" off
- Pasadena, CA 20.1" · 0.0" off
- Swan Valley, ID 20.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How McCook's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
McCook's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,776 annual heating degree days against 1,155 for cooling. Its 48.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
McCook's frost-free season lasts about 161 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in McCook's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 48.9°F. The annual average is 52°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
McCook's 20.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from McCook's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for McCook, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about McCook's climate
How much rain does McCook get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does McCook get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in McCook? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from McCook's primary station: MCCOOK MUNI AP (USW00094040). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the McCook area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 3129925). Match rule for McCook: 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 McCook 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.