McDonald, Kansas climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
McDonald's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 20.8 inches of precipitation and 34 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.1°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 33°C, 528 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMcDonald
- Station IDUSC00145127
- Location39.78°N 101.37°W
- Elevation3,364 ft (1,025 m)
On October 23, the normal high in McDonald is 64°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for McDonald.
- Jan 42° 17°
- Feb 45° 19°
- Mar 56° 26°
- Apr 64° 34°
- May 74° 45°
- Jun 86° 56°
- Jul 91° 62°
- Aug 89° 60°
- Sep 82° 51°
- Oct 68° 38°
- Nov 54° 26°
- Dec 43° 18°
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 McDonald each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.29 in), the least in January (0.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 17°F | 29.5°F | 0.46 | 5.8 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 19°F | 31.9°F | 0.56 | 5.6 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 26°F | 41.1°F | 1.08 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 34°F | 49.2°F | 2.22 | 4.1 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 45°F | 59.6°F | 3.02 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 56°F | 71.0°F | 2.95 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 62°F | 76.4°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 10 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 60°F | 74.4°F | 3.03 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 82°F | 51°F | 66.3°F | 1.31 | 0.7 | 5 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 38°F | 52.9°F | 1.59 | 2.1 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 26°F | 40.0°F | 0.74 | 4.7 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 18°F | 30.8°F | 0.55 | 5.2 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 38°F | 51.9°F | 20.80 | 33.6 | 76 | 54 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −8°C | −1.4°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 7°C | −7°C | −0.1°C | 14 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 13°C | −3°C | 5.1°C | 27 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 18°C | 1°C | 9.6°C | 56 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 23°C | 7°C | 15.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 14°C | 21.7°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 24.7°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 16°C | 23.6°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 11°C | 19.1°C | 33 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 20°C | 3°C | 11.6°C | 40 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 12°C | −3°C | 4.4°C | 19 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 6°C | −8°C | −0.7°C | 14 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145127; 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 McDonald?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00145127.
When is the last frost at McDonald?
In McDonald, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 28 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 41 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 160 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts McDonald in zone 6a in ZIP code 67745, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00145127; 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 at McDonald?
In a normal year in McDonald, 54 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 76 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 54a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 27high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 76a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1954) is 109°F, on July 5, 1964; the lowest is −26°F, on December 22, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1981, with 31.45 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 103.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00145127; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00145127. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at McDonald?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at McDonald, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.5 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 78% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.5 |
| June | 86% | 7.3 |
| July | 89% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 3.8 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 77% | 2.2 |
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 McDonald record?
A normal year at McDonald brings 5,770 heating degree days, 7% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,042 cooling degree days, 15% 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 3,367 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,101 | 0 |
| February | 925 | 0 |
| March | 741 | 0 |
| April | 477 | 3 |
| May | 210 | 41 |
| June | 29 | 208 |
| July | 3 | 357 |
| August | 6 | 298 |
| September | 84 | 123 |
| October | 387 | 12 |
| November | 749 | 0 |
| December | 1,058 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,770 | 1,042 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145127. 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.
How does McDonald's climate compare?
McDonald is warmer than 8 of the 137 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 20. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.9°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, McDonald 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 McDonald 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.
- Bird City, KS448 people · 9 mi W
- McDonald, KS115 people · 0 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 McDonald's climate
What is the coldest month at McDonald?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow at McDonald?
Yes: 34 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month at McDonald?
July, with 3.29 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is McDonald in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts McDonald in zone 6a in ZIP code 67745, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come at McDonald?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Atwood, KS17 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Benkelman, NE22 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- St. Francis, KS23 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Brewster, KS29 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made