Mount Pleasant, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mount Pleasant's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 38.5 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.8°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 29°C, 977 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMount Pleasant (1 mi SSW)
- Station IDUSC00135796
- Location40.95°N 91.56°W
- Elevation730 ft (223 m)
- Population8,509
On October 14, the normal high in Mount Pleasant is 65°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 Mount Pleasant.
- Jan 31° 13°
- Feb 37° 17°
- Mar 49° 27°
- Apr 63° 38°
- May 72° 49°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 85° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 77° 52°
- Oct 64° 41°
- Nov 50° 29°
- Dec 37° 18°
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 Pleasant each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.11 in), the least in January (1.42 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 13°F | 22.0°F | 1.42 | 7.2 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 17°F | 26.6°F | 1.68 | 7.1 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 49°F | 27°F | 38.1°F | 2.31 | 2.8 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 38°F | 50.2°F | 3.91 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 49°F | 60.5°F | 5.05 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.6°F | 5.11 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 62°F | 73.5°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 52°F | 64.5°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 41°F | 52.4°F | 2.90 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 29°F | 39.1°F | 2.05 | 0.5 | 5 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 18°F | 27.5°F | 1.68 | 6.1 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 39°F | 49.6°F | 38.45 | 24.8 | 84 | 20 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −11°C | −5.6°C | 36 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 3°C | −9°C | −3.0°C | 43 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 10°C | −3°C | 3.4°C | 59 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 10.1°C | 99 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 18.1°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 52 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.5°C | 43 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135796; 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 Pleasant?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, 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 USC00135796.
When is the last frost in Mount Pleasant?
In Mount Pleasant, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 24 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 301 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 163 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mount Pleasant in zone 5b in ZIP code 52641, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mount Pleasant's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00135796; 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 Pleasant?
In a normal year in Mount Pleasant, 20 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1898) is 114°F, on July 15, 1936; the lowest is −27°F, on January 16, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 61.64 in; the snowiest season is 1911–12, with 54.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00135796; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00135796. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mount Pleasant?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mount Pleasant, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (82%) and January the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.9 |
| February | 68% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 78% | 6.3 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 71% | 2.2 |
| December | 64% | 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 Mount Pleasant need?
A normal year in Mount Pleasant brings 6,380 heating degree days, 19% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 814 cooling degree days, 10% fewer 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 3,118 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,334 | 0 |
| February | 1,077 | 0 |
| March | 835 | 1 |
| April | 453 | 7 |
| May | 188 | 48 |
| June | 27 | 165 |
| July | 4 | 267 |
| August | 11 | 220 |
| September | 108 | 93 |
| October | 403 | 12 |
| November | 779 | 0 |
| December | 1,162 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,380 | 814 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135796. 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 Pleasant been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 53.6°F, 4.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 53.6°F | +4.0°F | 38.02 | – |
Over 96 complete years from 1879 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.2°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00135796; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Mount Pleasant's climate compare?
Mount Pleasant is warmer than 99 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 102. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.6°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mount Pleasant 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 Mount Pleasant share this climate record?
10 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.
- New London, IA1,853 people · 9 mi E
- Salem, IA380 people · 7 mi SW
- Lockridge, IA245 people · 10 mi W
- Olds, IA174 people · 13 mi N
- Hillsboro, IA158 people · 11 mi SW
- Rome, IA112 people · 7 mi W
- Westwood, IA96 people · 3 mi W
- Swedesburg, IA87 people · 11 mi N
- Lowell, IA49 people · 10 mi SE
- Trenton, IA37 people · 9 mi NW
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 Mount Pleasant's climate
What is the coldest month in Mount Pleasant?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Mount Pleasant?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Mount Pleasant?
June, with 5.11 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mount Pleasant in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mount Pleasant in zone 5b in ZIP code 52641, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Mount Pleasant's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Mount Pleasant?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Donnellson, IA21 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Fairfield, IA21 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Washington, IA24 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Columbus Junction, IA25 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made