Mount Ida, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mount Ida's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 55.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.5°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,416 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMount Ida
- Station IDUSW00053921
- Location34.55°N 93.58°W
- Elevation702 ft (214 m)
- Population1,020
On October 23, the normal high in Mount Ida is 73°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Mount Ida.
- Jan 53° 31°
- Feb 57° 34°
- Mar 65° 41°
- Apr 74° 49°
- May 81° 58°
- Jun 88° 66°
- Jul 93° 69°
- Aug 93° 68°
- Sep 86° 61°
- Oct 75° 49°
- Nov 64° 40°
- Dec 55° 32°
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 Mount Ida each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in April (6.17 in), the least in August (3.66 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 31°F | 41.8°F | 3.81 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 34°F | 45.5°F | 4.04 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| March | 65°F | 41°F | 53.3°F | 5.01 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 49°F | 61.5°F | 6.17 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 58°F | 69.4°F | 5.44 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 88°F | 66°F | 77.2°F | 4.77 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 69°F | 81.0°F | 4.20 | 10 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 93°F | 68°F | 80.4°F | 3.66 | 8 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 61°F | 73.4°F | 4.14 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 49°F | 62.2°F | 4.44 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 40°F | 51.5°F | 5.25 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 32°F | 43.6°F | 4.82 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 50°F | 61.7°F | 55.75 | 115 | 66 | 73 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 97 mm |
| February | 14°C | 1°C | 7.5°C | 103 mm |
| March | 19°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 127 mm |
| April | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 157 mm |
| May | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 138 mm |
| June | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 121 mm |
| July | 34°C | 21°C | 27.2°C | 107 mm |
| August | 34°C | 20°C | 26.9°C | 93 mm |
| September | 30°C | 16°C | 23.0°C | 105 mm |
| October | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 113 mm |
| November | 18°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 133 mm |
| December | 13°C | 0°C | 6.4°C | 122 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Mount Ida (3 mi SE) (1 miles away), gets 4 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053921; 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 Mount Ida?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00053921.
When is the last frost in Mount Ida?
In Mount Ida, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 2 in half of years and after April 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 16 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 21 year in 10 after April 20; 9 in 10 after March 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 16; 9 in 10 before November 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 213 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 240 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 17 in half of springs and before November 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mount Ida in zone 8a in ZIP code 71957, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mount Ida's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (18 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 USW00053921; 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 Mount Ida?
In a normal year in Mount Ida, 66 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 73 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 73a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
The highest temperature in Mount Ida's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1883) is 116°F, on August 10, 1936; the lowest is −21°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1945, with 83.73 in; the snowiest season is 1880–81, with 22.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053921; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record MWTthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mount Ida?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mount Ida, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and February the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 64% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 81% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 76% | 3.8 |
| November | 72% | 2.8 |
| 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 Mount Ida need?
A normal year in Mount Ida brings 3,084 heating degree days, 43% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,929 cooling degree days, 2.1 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 5,225 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 719 | 1 |
| February | 550 | 3 |
| March | 378 | 15 |
| April | 157 | 50 |
| May | 34 | 171 |
| June | 0 | 368 |
| July | 0 | 498 |
| August | 0 | 479 |
| September | 13 | 265 |
| October | 156 | 69 |
| November | 412 | 9 |
| December | 665 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 3,084 | 1,929 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053921. 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 Mount Ida been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.3°F, 2.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 61.7°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.3°F | +0.6°F | – |
| 2023 | 63.7°F | +2.0°F | 57.70 |
| 2024 | 64.5°F | +2.8°F | 56.65 |
| 2025 | 64.3°F | +2.6°F | 62.47 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053921. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Mount Ida's climate compare?
Mount Ida is warmer than 48 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 70. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.7°F is warmer than 79%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mount Ida 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.
Questions about Mount Ida's climate
What is the coldest month in Mount Ida?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Mount Ida?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Mount Ida's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Mount Ida (3 mi SE) (1 miles away), records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Mount Ida?
April, with 6.17 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.66 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mount Ida in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mount Ida in zone 8a in ZIP code 71957, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Mount Ida's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Mount Ida?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 2; in one year in ten it comes after April 20. Waiting until April 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Mount Ida (3 mi SE), AR1 miles from this station, 59.2°F a year
- Blakely Mountain Dam, AR22 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Big Fork (1 mi SSE), AR25 miles from this station, 59.4°F a year
- Degray Lake State Park, AR32 miles from this station, 60.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made