Minden, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Minden's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 25.7 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 652 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMinden
- Station IDUSC00255565
- Location40.52°N 98.95°W
- Elevation2,160 ft (658 m)
- Population3,116
On October 23, the normal high in Minden is 61°F and the normal low 36°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 Minden.
- Jan 35° 15°
- Feb 39° 18°
- Mar 51° 27°
- Apr 61° 38°
- May 71° 50°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 87° 65°
- Aug 84° 63°
- Sep 77° 54°
- Oct 64° 39°
- Nov 50° 27°
- Dec 37° 17°
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 Minden each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.52 in), the least in January (0.48 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 15°F | 24.8°F | 0.48 | 5.6 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 18°F | 28.8°F | 0.55 | 7.2 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 27°F | 39.1°F | 1.33 | 3.3 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 38°F | 49.6°F | 2.38 | 1.5 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 71°F | 50°F | 60.4°F | 4.52 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 71.1°F | 3.91 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 65°F | 75.9°F | 3.61 | 0.0 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 63°F | 73.4°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 54°F | 65.4°F | 1.88 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 39°F | 51.9°F | 2.11 | 0.6 | 6 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 27°F | 38.3°F | 0.96 | 2.4 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 17°F | 27.3°F | 0.74 | 4.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 25.66 | 24.8 | 80 | 38 | 149 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −4.0°C | 12 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −1.8°C | 14 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.9°C | 34 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 60 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 15.8°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.0°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 54 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −3°C | 3.5°C | 24 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 19 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00255565; 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 Minden?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00255565.
When is the last frost in Minden?
In Minden, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 29 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 261 year in 10 after May 8; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 168 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Minden in zone 5b in ZIP code 68959, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Minden's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00255565; 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 Minden?
In a normal year in Minden, 38 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 149 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 149a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 36high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 118°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −33°F, on February 12, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 41.89 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 84.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00255565; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00255565. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Minden?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Minden, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 6.1 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 78% | 3.5 |
| November | 78% | 2.5 |
| December | 73% | 1.9 |
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 Minden need?
A normal year in Minden brings 6,241 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 994 cooling degree days, 10% 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 3,292 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,245 | 0 |
| February | 1,015 | 0 |
| March | 802 | 0 |
| April | 468 | 6 |
| May | 195 | 53 |
| June | 25 | 208 |
| July | 3 | 339 |
| August | 8 | 269 |
| September | 97 | 110 |
| October | 417 | 11 |
| November | 801 | 0 |
| December | 1,167 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,241 | 994 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00255565. 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 Minden been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.0°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.5°F | +1.0°F | 29.95 | 28.2 |
| 2022 | 50.7°F | +0.2°F | 16.29 | 8.9 |
| 2023 | 51.1°F | +0.6°F | 23.52 | 35.0 |
| 2024 | 52.6°F | +2.1°F | 26.47 | 14.4 |
| 2025 | 52.0°F | +1.5°F | 23.25 | 20.1 |
Over 114 complete years from 1892 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00255565; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Minden's climate compare?
Minden is warmer than 87 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 54. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.5°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Minden 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 Minden share this climate record?
4 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.
- Axtell, NE769 people · 10 mi W
- Upland, NE124 people · 14 mi S
- Heartwell, NE82 people · 9 mi NE
- Norman, NE35 people · 9 mi E
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 Minden's climate
What is the coldest month in Minden?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Minden?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 14 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Minden?
May, with 4.52 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.48 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Minden in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Minden in zone 5b in ZIP code 68959, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Minden's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Minden?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 8. Waiting until May 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kearney, NE15 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Ragan, NE23 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Holdrege, NE23 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Hastings, NE28 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made