O'Neill, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
O'Neill's normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 25.9 inches of precipitation and 26 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.7°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 31°C, 657 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationO'neill
- Station IDUSC00256290
- Location42.46°N 98.66°W
- Elevation1,990 ft (607 m)
- Population3,578
On October 23, the normal high in O'Neill is 58°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for O'Neill.
- Jan 32° 11°
- Feb 36° 14°
- Mar 47° 23°
- Apr 58° 34°
- May 70° 46°
- Jun 81° 57°
- Jul 87° 62°
- Aug 85° 59°
- Sep 77° 50°
- Oct 62° 36°
- Nov 47° 24°
- Dec 34° 15°
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 O'Neill each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.21 in), the least in January (0.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 11°F | 21.5°F | 0.46 | 4.1 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 36°F | 14°F | 24.7°F | 0.67 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 23°F | 35.4°F | 1.51 | 4.7 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 34°F | 46.0°F | 2.92 | 1.7 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 46°F | 57.7°F | 4.21 | 0.4 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 81°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 87°F | 62°F | 74.6°F | 3.26 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 85°F | 59°F | 72.1°F | 3.09 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 50°F | 63.2°F | 2.35 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 36°F | 48.8°F | 2.30 | 0.9 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 24°F | 35.0°F | 0.89 | 2.7 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 15°F | 24.4°F | 0.71 | 5.3 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 36°F | 47.7°F | 25.85 | 25.6 | 81 | 32 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −12°C | −5.8°C | 12 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.1°C | 17 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 9°C | −5°C | 1.9°C | 38 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 74 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.3°C | 107 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 17°C | 23.7°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 15°C | 22.3°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 58 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 8°C | −5°C | 1.7°C | 23 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 1°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 18 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256290; 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 O'Neill?
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 USC00256290.
When is the last frost in O'Neill?
In O'Neill, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 5 in half of years and before September 22 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 31 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 51 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 155 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts O'Neill in zone 5b in ZIP code 68763, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, O'Neill's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00256290; 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 O'Neill?
In a normal year in O'Neill, 32 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 54high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 112°F, on July 17, 1936; the lowest is −34°F, on February 2, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 40.23 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 104.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00256290; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00256290. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is O'Neill?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around O'Neill, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and March the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.1 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.7 |
| July | 85% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 76% | 3.3 |
| November | 75% | 2.3 |
| December | 71% | 1.7 |
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 O'Neill need?
A normal year in O'Neill brings 7,109 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 835 cooling degree days, 8% 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 2,912 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,350 | 0 |
| February | 1,127 | 0 |
| March | 918 | 1 |
| April | 573 | 3 |
| May | 263 | 37 |
| June | 47 | 164 |
| July | 7 | 303 |
| August | 17 | 235 |
| September | 143 | 87 |
| October | 508 | 6 |
| November | 899 | 0 |
| December | 1,258 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,109 | 835 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256290. 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 O'Neill been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.8°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.6°F | +1.9°F | 20.75 | 19.7 |
| 2022 | 47.3°F | −0.4°F | 18.37 | 15.7 |
| 2024 | 49.5°F | +1.8°F | 23.05 | – |
| 2025 | 48.8°F | +1.1°F | 25.26 | – |
Over 89 complete years from 1899 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 USC00256290; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does O'Neill's climate compare?
O'Neill is warmer than 15 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 55. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.7°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, O'Neill 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 O'Neill 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.
- Inman, NE99 people · 8 mi SE
- Emmet, NE46 people · 8 mi W
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 O'Neill's climate
What is the coldest month in O'Neill?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in O'Neill?
Yes: 26 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in O'Neill?
May, with 4.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is O'Neill in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts O'Neill in zone 5b in ZIP code 68763, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at O'Neill's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in O'Neill?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Chambers, NE18 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Atkinson, NE19 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Ewing, NE21 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Lynch, NE27 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