McCook, Texas climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
McCook's normal year runs from 47°F January nights to 98°F August afternoons, with 19.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 23.0°C, January lows of 9°C, August highs of 37°C, 504 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMcCook
- Station IDUSC00415721
- Location26.57°N 98.12°W
- Elevation220 ft (67 m)
On October 22, the normal high in McCook is 85°F and the normal low 62°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for McCook.
- Jan 69° 47°
- Feb 74° 51°
- Mar 80° 57°
- Apr 86° 63°
- May 90° 69°
- Jun 95° 73°
- Jul 97° 74°
- Aug 98° 74°
- Sep 92° 70°
- Oct 86° 64°
- Nov 76° 55°
- Dec 70° 49°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at McCook each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 98°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 47°F. The most precipitation falls in September (3.92 in), the least in February (0.80 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 0.87 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 40 min |
| February | 74°F | 51°F | 62.6°F | 0.80 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 80°F | 57°F | 68.5°F | 1.11 | 5 | 5 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 86°F | 63°F | 74.3°F | 1.02 | 5 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 90°F | 69°F | 79.8°F | 1.74 | 4 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| June | 95°F | 73°F | 84.3°F | 2.52 | 4 | 28 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| July | 97°F | 74°F | 85.6°F | 1.56 | 5 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| August | 98°F | 74°F | 85.8°F | 1.26 | 4 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| September | 92°F | 70°F | 81.1°F | 3.92 | 8 | 23 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 86°F | 64°F | 75.1°F | 2.69 | 5 | 16 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 76°F | 55°F | 65.9°F | 1.27 | 5 | 3 | <1 | 10 h 50 min |
| December | 70°F | 49°F | 59.2°F | 1.08 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 85°F | 62°F | 73.4°F | 19.84 | 63 | 170 | 3 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°C | 9°C | 14.5°C | 22 mm |
| February | 23°C | 11°C | 17.0°C | 20 mm |
| March | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 28 mm |
| April | 30°C | 17°C | 23.5°C | 26 mm |
| May | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 44 mm |
| June | 35°C | 23°C | 29.1°C | 64 mm |
| July | 36°C | 23°C | 29.8°C | 40 mm |
| August | 37°C | 23°C | 29.9°C | 32 mm |
| September | 33°C | 21°C | 27.3°C | 100 mm |
| October | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 68 mm |
| November | 25°C | 13°C | 18.8°C | 32 mm |
| December | 21°C | 9°C | 15.1°C | 27 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00415721; 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.
Which months are mildest at McCook?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, November and December. Of those, March has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00415721.
When is the last frost at McCook?
In McCook, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 22 in half of years and after March 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 19 in half of years and before November 26 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 86% of years here (NOAA).
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 221 year in 10 after March 5; 9 in 10 after December 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 191 year in 10 before November 26; 9 in 10 before January 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 333 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 6 in half of springs and before January 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts McCook in zone 9b in ZIP code 78549, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00415721; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 at McCook?
In a normal year in McCook, 170 days a year reach 90°F (47 of them 100°F or more), 3 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 63 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 170a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 47a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 3a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 63a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1941) is 113°F, on June 16, 1998; the lowest is 10°F, on January 12, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1967, with 46.88 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00415721; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00415721. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at McCook?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at McCook, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (90%) and January the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 3.2 |
| February | 73% | 4.0 |
| March | 74% | 4.8 |
| April | 78% | 5.6 |
| May | 82% | 6.1 |
| June | 88% | 6.9 |
| July | 88% | 6.8 |
| August | 90% | 6.6 |
| September | 83% | 5.4 |
| October | 84% | 4.7 |
| November | 79% | 3.7 |
| December | 72% | 3.0 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does McCook record?
A normal year at McCook brings 813 heating degree days, 85% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,881 cooling degree days, 4.3 times the median (908). No month reaches 300 heating degree days. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 8,634 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 252 | 39 |
| February | 143 | 75 |
| March | 63 | 171 |
| April | 13 | 291 |
| May | 1 | 461 |
| June | 0 | 579 |
| July | 0 | 639 |
| August | 0 | 645 |
| September | 1 | 484 |
| October | 12 | 324 |
| November | 98 | 126 |
| December | 230 | 50 |
| Year (annual) | 813 | 3,881 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00415721. 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.
Have recent years at McCook been warmer than normal?
Over 42 complete years from 1942 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.8°F per century (+0.27°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does McCook's climate compare?
McCook is warmer than 305 of the 321 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 55. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 73.4°F is warmer than 98%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, McCook is BSh: hot semi-arid steppe. 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 McCook 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.
- Hargill, TX876 people · 11 mi SE
- Linn, TX633 people · 0 mi W
- Delmita, TX210 people · 20 mi NW
- San Isidro, TX198 people · 22 mi NW
- La Coma Heights, TX122 people · 9 mi S
- Harding Gill Tract, TX0 people · 12 mi SE
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 McCook's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near McCook. This page uses MCCOOK; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Manuel USC00417981 | in town | 75 ft | 74.3°F | 47°F | 98°F | 22.9 | – | January 25 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about McCook's climate
What is the coldest month at McCook?
January, with a normal high of 69°F and a normal low of 47°F. The warmest is August (98°F by day, 74°F at night).
What is the rainiest month at McCook?
September, with 3.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.80 in.
What plant hardiness zone is McCook in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts McCook in zone 9b in ZIP code 78549, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at McCook?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 22; in one year in ten it comes after March 5. Waiting until March 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Edinburg, TX19 miles from this station, 75.0°F a year
- La Joya, TX21 miles from this station, 73.4°F a year
- Raymondville, TX22 miles from this station, 74.4°F a year
- Santa Rosa, TX26 miles from this station, 74.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made