Monticello, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Monticello's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 53.0 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.7 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.8°C, January lows of 1°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,347 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMonticello Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053919
- Location33.64°N 91.76°W
- Elevation290 ft (88 m)
- Population8,185
On October 23, the normal high in Monticello is 74°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Monticello.
- Jan 54° 34°
- Feb 58° 38°
- Mar 67° 45°
- Apr 75° 53°
- May 82° 62°
- Jun 89° 70°
- Jul 92° 73°
- Aug 92° 72°
- Sep 87° 65°
- Oct 77° 53°
- Nov 65° 43°
- Dec 56° 37°
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 Monticello each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in April (5.98 in), the least in September (2.84 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 34°F | 44.0°F | 4.61 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 58°F | 38°F | 47.9°F | 5.03 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 45°F | 55.8°F | 5.46 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 75°F | 53°F | 63.6°F | 5.98 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 62°F | 72.1°F | 4.74 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 70°F | 79.4°F | 3.80 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 73°F | 82.6°F | 3.19 | 7 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 92°F | 72°F | 81.9°F | 3.00 | 6 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 65°F | 76.2°F | 2.84 | 6 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 53°F | 65.0°F | 4.28 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 43°F | 53.9°F | 4.25 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 56°F | 37°F | 46.2°F | 5.85 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 54°F | 64.1°F | 53.03 | 97 | 82 | 51 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 117 mm |
| February | 15°C | 3°C | 8.8°C | 128 mm |
| March | 19°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 139 mm |
| April | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 152 mm |
| May | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 120 mm |
| June | 32°C | 21°C | 26.3°C | 97 mm |
| July | 33°C | 23°C | 28.1°C | 81 mm |
| August | 34°C | 22°C | 27.7°C | 76 mm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.6°C | 72 mm |
| October | 25°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 109 mm |
| November | 18°C | 6°C | 12.2°C | 108 mm |
| December | 13°C | 3°C | 7.9°C | 149 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053919; 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 Monticello?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May 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 USW00053919.
When is the last frost in Monticello?
In Monticello, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 18 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 12 in half of years and before October 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
- March 181 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after February 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 121 year in 10 before October 28; 9 in 10 before December 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 238 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 264 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 4 in half of springs and before November 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Monticello in zone 8b in ZIP code 71655, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Monticello's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (25 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00053919; 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 Monticello?
In a normal year in Monticello, 82 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 51 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 97 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 82a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 51a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 97a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1876) is 109°F, on July 19, 2006; the lowest is −6°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2020, with 75.21 in; the snowiest season is 1965–66, with 11.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053919; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00053919. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Monticello?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Monticello, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.6 |
| February | 65% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 4.3 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 78% | 6.0 |
| June | 84% | 6.6 |
| July | 83% | 6.3 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 4.0 |
| November | 76% | 3.0 |
| December | 69% | 2.3 |
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 Monticello need?
A normal year in Monticello brings 2,634 heating degree days, 51% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,322 cooling degree days, 2.6 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,874 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 653 | 2 |
| February | 482 | 4 |
| March | 311 | 24 |
| April | 121 | 79 |
| May | 19 | 239 |
| June | 0 | 434 |
| July | 0 | 544 |
| August | 0 | 525 |
| September | 7 | 342 |
| October | 108 | 108 |
| November | 348 | 17 |
| December | 585 | 4 |
| Year (annual) | 2,634 | 2,322 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053919. 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 Monticello been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 66.5°F, 2.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.3°F | +0.2°F | 51.84 |
| 2022 | 64.2°F | +0.1°F | 51.69 |
| 2023 | 66.5°F | +2.4°F | 55.72 |
| 2024 | 66.7°F | +2.6°F | 57.99 |
| 2025 | 66.5°F | +2.4°F | 46.12 |
Over 59 complete years from 1938 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053919; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Monticello's climate compare?
Monticello is warmer than 82 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.1°F is warmer than 86%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Monticello is Cfa: temperate, 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 Monticello share this climate record?
Lacey has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Lacey, AR684 people · 14 mi SW
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 Monticello's climate
What is the coldest month in Monticello?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Monticello?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.7 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Monticello?
April, with 5.98 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 2.84 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Monticello in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Monticello in zone 8b in ZIP code 71655, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Monticello's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 15°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Monticello?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 18; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cane Creek State Park, AR19 miles from this station, 63.6°F a year
- Warren, AR20 miles from this station, 62.4°F a year
- Dumas, AR22 miles from this station, 64.0°F a year
- Dermott, AR22 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made