Minonk, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Minonk's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 37.6 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.7°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 30°C, 956 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMinonk
- Station IDUSC00115712
- Location40.91°N 89.03°W
- Elevation750 ft (229 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,898
On October 24, the normal high in Minonk is 62°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Minonk.
- Jan 33° 15°
- Feb 38° 19°
- Mar 50° 29°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 86° 64°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 79° 54°
- Oct 66° 42°
- Nov 51° 31°
- Dec 38° 21°
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 Minonk each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.60 in), the least in February (1.84 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 15°F | 24.0°F | 1.99 | 5.9 | 9 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 19°F | 28.1°F | 1.84 | 5.2 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 29°F | 39.1°F | 2.51 | 3.2 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 50.7°F | 3.66 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 4.60 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 71.8°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 64°F | 75.0°F | 3.82 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.0°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 54°F | 66.4°F | 3.87 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 42°F | 54.0°F | 3.08 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 31°F | 40.8°F | 2.61 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 21°F | 29.6°F | 2.21 | 5.5 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 41°F | 51.3°F | 37.65 | 21.7 | 114 | 27 | 135 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.4°C | 51 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.2°C | 47 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 64 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.4°C | 93 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 19.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.9°C | 66 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 3°C | −6°C | −1.3°C | 56 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00115712; 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 Minonk?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00115712.
When is the last frost in Minonk?
In Minonk, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 1 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 10; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 195 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Minonk in zone 5b in ZIP code 61760, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Minonk's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00115712; 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 Minonk?
In a normal year in Minonk, 27 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 135 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 135a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 37high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 111°F, on July 15, 1936; the lowest is −28°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 57.22 in; the snowiest season is 1981–82, with 61.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00115712; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00115712. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Minonk?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Minonk, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.9 |
| February | 67% | 2.8 |
| March | 68% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.4 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 70% | 2.2 |
| December | 62% | 1.6 |
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 Minonk need?
A normal year in Minonk brings 6,001 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,029 cooling degree days, 13% 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 3,432 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,271 | 0 |
| February | 1,032 | 0 |
| March | 805 | 2 |
| April | 437 | 10 |
| May | 160 | 83 |
| June | 21 | 227 |
| July | 3 | 313 |
| August | 7 | 255 |
| September | 81 | 122 |
| October | 360 | 19 |
| November | 727 | 1 |
| December | 1,097 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,001 | 1,029 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00115712. 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 Minonk been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.6°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.7°F | +1.4°F | 38.08 | 25.3 |
| 2022 | 50.7°F | −0.6°F | 33.21 | 28.3 |
| 2023 | 53.6°F | +2.3°F | 43.61 | 10.0 |
| 2024 | 54.5°F | +3.2°F | 32.04 | 14.9 |
| 2025 | 52.6°F | +1.3°F | 31.26 | 25.6 |
Over 105 complete years from 1886 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00115712; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Minonk's climate compare?
Minonk is warmer than 63 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 24. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.3°F is warmer than 46%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Minonk 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 Minonk share this climate record?
9 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.
- El Paso, IL2,732 people · 12 mi S
- Roanoke, IL1,928 people · 12 mi SW
- Toluca, IL1,321 people · 8 mi NW
- Flanagan, IL1,023 people · 9 mi E
- Wenona, IL955 people · 9 mi N
- Benson, IL404 people · 6 mi SW
- Rutland, IL255 people · 5 mi N
- Dana, IL157 people · 5 mi NE
- Panola, IL43 people · 9 mi S
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 Minonk's climate
What is the coldest month in Minonk?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Minonk?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Minonk?
May, with 4.60 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.84 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Minonk in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Minonk in zone 5b in ZIP code 61760, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Minonk's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Minonk?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Streator, IL17 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Chenoa, IL21 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Pontiac, IL21 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Lacon, IL21 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made