McPherson, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
McPherson's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 33.6 inches of precipitation and 14 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.2°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 34°C, 853 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMcPherson
- Station IDUSC00145152
- Location38.38°N 97.61°W
- Elevation1,520 ft (463 m)
- Population14,068
On October 23, the normal high in McPherson is 67°F and the normal low 41°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 McPherson.
- Jan 42° 19°
- Feb 47° 22°
- Mar 58° 31°
- Apr 67° 41°
- May 77° 52°
- Jun 88° 63°
- Jul 93° 68°
- Aug 91° 66°
- Sep 83° 58°
- Oct 71° 44°
- Nov 56° 31°
- Dec 44° 22°
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 McPherson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.42 in), the least in January (0.90 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 19°F | 30.7°F | 0.90 | 4.1 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 22°F | 34.6°F | 1.22 | 3.3 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 58°F | 31°F | 44.4°F | 2.35 | 2.6 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 41°F | 53.9°F | 2.98 | 0.6 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 77°F | 52°F | 64.7°F | 5.42 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 88°F | 63°F | 75.6°F | 4.75 | 0.0 | 9 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 93°F | 68°F | 80.6°F | 4.19 | 0.0 | 9 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 91°F | 66°F | 78.5°F | 3.51 | 0.0 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 58°F | 70.4°F | 2.97 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 44°F | 57.5°F | 2.44 | 0.1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 31°F | 43.8°F | 1.56 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 22°F | 33.3°F | 1.29 | 2.9 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 43°F | 55.7°F | 33.58 | 14.2 | 86 | 64 | 126 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −7°C | −0.7°C | 23 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 1.4°C | 31 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 14°C | 0°C | 6.9°C | 60 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 19°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 76 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 25°C | 11°C | 18.2°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 31°C | 17°C | 24.2°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 20°C | 27.0°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 19°C | 25.8°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 14°C | 21.3°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 40 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 7°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 33 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145152; 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 McPherson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00145152.
When is the last frost in McPherson?
In McPherson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 18 in half of years and after May 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 7 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 181 year in 10 after May 1; 9 in 10 after April 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 187 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 207 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 6 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts McPherson in zone 6b in ZIP code 67460, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, McPherson's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (20 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 USC00145152; 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 McPherson?
In a normal year in McPherson, 64 days a year reach 90°F (11 of them 100°F or more), 126 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 64a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 126a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 117°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −22°F, on January 3, 1919.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1951, with 49.12 in; the snowiest season is 1911–12, with 62.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00145152; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00145152. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is McPherson?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around McPherson, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.4 |
| February | 73% | 3.2 |
| March | 73% | 4.3 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 6.1 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 85% | 6.0 |
| September | 83% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 3.7 |
| November | 79% | 2.7 |
| December | 75% | 2.1 |
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 McPherson need?
A normal year in McPherson brings 4,957 heating degree days, 8% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,592 cooling degree days, 75% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,256 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,063 | 0 |
| February | 851 | 0 |
| March | 639 | 2 |
| April | 348 | 13 |
| May | 116 | 105 |
| June | 7 | 326 |
| July | 1 | 483 |
| August | 1 | 420 |
| September | 42 | 206 |
| October | 270 | 38 |
| November | 635 | 1 |
| December | 984 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,957 | 1,592 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145152. 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 McPherson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.5°F, 0.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 55.7°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.5°F | +0.8°F | 33.21 | 10.0 |
| 2022 | 55.3°F | −0.4°F | 25.44 | 13.5 |
| 2023 | 56.8°F | +1.1°F | 25.50 | 13.8 |
| 2024 | 57.4°F | +1.7°F | 33.07 | 17.0 |
| 2025 | 55.5°F | −0.2°F | 42.05 | 17.5 |
Over 110 complete years from 1894 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00145152; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does McPherson's climate compare?
McPherson is warmer than 93 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 77. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.7°F is warmer than 63%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, McPherson 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 McPherson share this climate record?
5 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.
- Moundridge, KS1,965 people · 13 mi SE
- Galva, KS826 people · 4 mi E
- Canton, KS664 people · 10 mi E
- Elyria, KS291 people · 6 mi S
- Roxbury, KS8 people · 16 mi NE
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 McPherson's climate
What is the coldest month in McPherson?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in McPherson?
Yes: 14 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in McPherson?
May, with 5.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.90 in.
What plant hardiness zone is McPherson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts McPherson in zone 6b in ZIP code 67460, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at McPherson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in McPherson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 18; in one year in ten it comes after May 1. Waiting until May 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kanopolis, KS25 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Smolan, KS25 miles from this station, 54.7°F a year
- Hutchinson, KS25 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Newton, KS28 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made