Muscatine, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Muscatine's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 40.0 inches of precipitation and 24 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, 1,015 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMuscatine
- Station IDUSC00135837
- Location41.41°N 91.07°W
- Elevation549 ft (167 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population23,298
On October 23, the normal high in Muscatine is 61°F and the normal low 39°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 Muscatine.
- Jan 31° 13°
- Feb 36° 17°
- Mar 50° 28°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 85° 64°
- Aug 83° 62°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 65° 42°
- Nov 49° 30°
- Dec 36° 20°
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 Muscatine 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 (5.46 in), the least in January (1.51 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 13°F | 22.1°F | 1.51 | 7.0 | 8 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 36°F | 17°F | 26.7°F | 1.78 | 5.8 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 28°F | 39.0°F | 2.55 | 2.8 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 51.2°F | 3.82 | 0.7 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.3°F | 5.11 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.6°F | 5.46 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 64°F | 74.8°F | 4.25 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 62°F | 72.6°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 65.7°F | 3.91 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 42°F | 53.2°F | 3.04 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 30°F | 39.3°F | 2.28 | 0.8 | 8 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 36°F | 20°F | 27.8°F | 2.00 | 6.2 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 40°F | 50.5°F | 39.97 | 23.5 | 116 | 22 | 127 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −10°C | −5.5°C | 38 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 2°C | −8°C | −2.9°C | 45 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 10°C | −2°C | 3.9°C | 65 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.7°C | 97 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.8°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.0°C | 139 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 77 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 9°C | −1°C | 4.1°C | 58 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 2°C | −7°C | −2.3°C | 51 mm | 16 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135837; 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 Muscatine?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. 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 USC00135837.
When is the last frost in Muscatine?
In Muscatine, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 24 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 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 241 year in 10 after May 9; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 192 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Muscatine in zone 5b in ZIP code 52761. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Muscatine's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 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 USC00135837; 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 Muscatine?
In a normal year in Muscatine, 22 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 127 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 116 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 22a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 127a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 116a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1935) is 111°F, on July 15, 1936; the lowest is −34°F, on February 3, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 59.17 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 60.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00135837; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00135837. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Muscatine?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Muscatine, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.9 |
| February | 71% | 2.9 |
| March | 69% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 70% | 2.1 |
| December | 63% | 1.5 |
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 Muscatine need?
A normal year in Muscatine brings 6,214 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 968 cooling degree days, 7% 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 3,357 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,331 | 0 |
| February | 1,074 | 0 |
| March | 809 | 2 |
| April | 423 | 10 |
| May | 157 | 72 |
| June | 17 | 213 |
| July | 2 | 306 |
| August | 7 | 244 |
| September | 88 | 107 |
| October | 382 | 15 |
| November | 771 | 0 |
| December | 1,153 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,214 | 968 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00135837. 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 Muscatine been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.6°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.5°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 53.5°F | +3.0°F | 43.23 | 24.9 |
| 2025 | 50.6°F | +0.1°F | – | 15.5 |
Over 74 complete years from 1937 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00135837; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Muscatine's climate compare?
Muscatine is warmer than 116 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 126. 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, Muscatine 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 Muscatine share this climate record?
3 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.
- Edgington, IL453 people · 16 mi E
- Buffalo Prairie, IL0 people · 13 mi E
- Eliza, IL0 people · 9 mi SE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Muscatine's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Muscatine. This page uses Muscatine; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muscatine (2 mi N) USC00135844 | 4 mi N | 680 ft | 50.1°F | 14°F | 84°F | 38.3 | 29 | April 18 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Muscatine's climate
What is the coldest month in Muscatine?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Muscatine?
Yes: 24 inches in a normal year, falling on 14 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Muscatine?
June, with 5.46 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.51 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Muscatine in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Muscatine in zone 5b in ZIP code 52761. By the same method at Muscatine's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Muscatine?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 24; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Muscatine in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Illinois City, IL4 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- New Boston, IL15 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Columbus Junction, IA17 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Aledo, IL22 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made