North Loup, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
North Loup's normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 26.0 inches of precipitation and 31 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 660 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNorth Loup
- Station IDUSC00256040
- Location41.50°N 98.77°W
- Elevation1,961 ft (598 m)
- Population252
On October 14, the normal high in North Loup is 64°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for North Loup.
- Jan 35° 11°
- Feb 39° 14°
- Mar 51° 23°
- Apr 62° 33°
- May 72° 45°
- Jun 81° 56°
- Jul 85° 61°
- Aug 83° 59°
- Sep 77° 49°
- Oct 64° 36°
- Nov 49° 23°
- Dec 37° 14°
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 North Loup each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.43 in), the least in January (0.54 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 11°F | 22.8°F | 0.54 | 6.6 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 14°F | 26.4°F | 0.70 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 23°F | 37.3°F | 1.48 | 5.5 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 33°F | 47.6°F | 2.94 | 2.6 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 45°F | 58.4°F | 3.81 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 56°F | 68.5°F | 4.43 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 61°F | 72.9°F | 3.28 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 59°F | 70.7°F | 2.86 | 0.0 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 49°F | 62.7°F | 2.20 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 36°F | 49.7°F | 2.05 | 1.3 | 5 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 23°F | 36.0°F | 0.93 | 3.3 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 37°F | 14°F | 25.6°F | 0.76 | 5.4 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 35°F | 48.2°F | 25.98 | 30.9 | 73 | 23 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −12°C | −5.1°C | 14 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 4°C | −10°C | −3.1°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 11°C | −5°C | 2.9°C | 38 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 8.7°C | 75 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 22°C | 7°C | 14.7°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 13°C | 20.3°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 16°C | 22.7°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.5°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 9°C | 17.1°C | 56 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 2°C | 9.8°C | 52 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 10°C | −5°C | 2.2°C | 24 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 3°C | −10°C | −3.6°C | 19 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256040; 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 North Loup?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, 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 USC00256040.
When is the last frost in North Loup?
In North Loup, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 21 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
- May 51 year in 10 after May 19; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 150 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 169 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 27 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts North Loup in zone 5b in ZIP code 68859, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, North Loup's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°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 Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00256040; 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 North Loup?
In a normal year in North Loup, 23 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 114°F, on July 16, 1934; the lowest is −35°F, on January 5, 1924.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1905, with 42.30 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 63.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00256040; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00256040. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is North Loup?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around North Loup, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.2 |
| February | 75% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.4 |
| November | 77% | 2.4 |
| December | 73% | 1.8 |
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 North Loup need?
A normal year in North Loup brings 6,778 heating degree days, 26% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 698 cooling degree days, 23% 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 2,804 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,308 | 0 |
| February | 1,079 | 0 |
| March | 859 | 0 |
| April | 525 | 4 |
| May | 236 | 30 |
| June | 41 | 146 |
| July | 8 | 252 |
| August | 16 | 192 |
| September | 137 | 70 |
| October | 477 | 4 |
| November | 870 | 0 |
| December | 1,223 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,778 | 698 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256040. 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 North Loup been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.8°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.2°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 48.4°F | +0.2°F | 15.21 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 50.5°F | +2.3°F | 26.77 | 22.5 |
| 2025 | 49.8°F | +1.6°F | 31.96 | 18.4 |
Over 99 complete years from 1889 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00256040; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does North Loup's climate compare?
North Loup is warmer than 26 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 57. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, North Loup 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 North Loup share this climate record?
2 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.
- Scotia, NE292 people · 4 mi SE
- Cotesfield, NE31 people · 12 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.
Questions about North Loup's climate
What is the coldest month in North Loup?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in North Loup?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in North Loup?
June, with 4.43 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.54 in.
What plant hardiness zone is North Loup in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts North Loup in zone 5b in ZIP code 68859, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at North Loup's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in North Loup?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 19. Waiting until May 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Greeley, NE13 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Ord, NE13 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Loup City, NE18 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- Ericson, NE21 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made