Oakdale, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Oakdale's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 27.6 inches of precipitation and 31 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 28°C, 701 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOakdale
- Station IDUSC00256135
- Location42.06°N 97.97°W
- Elevation1,749 ft (533 m)
- Population272
On October 23, the normal high in Oakdale is 59°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Oakdale.
- Jan 32° 10°
- Feb 36° 14°
- Mar 47° 25°
- Apr 59° 35°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 79° 58°
- Jul 83° 63°
- Aug 81° 61°
- Sep 75° 50°
- Oct 62° 36°
- Nov 47° 24°
- Dec 35° 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 Oakdale each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.35 in), the least in January (0.52 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 10°F | 21.1°F | 0.52 | 6.9 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 36°F | 14°F | 25.1°F | 0.73 | 5.7 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 25°F | 36.0°F | 1.47 | 5.9 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 35°F | 47.0°F | 2.87 | 2.6 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.0°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 58°F | 68.5°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 83°F | 63°F | 73.1°F | 3.11 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 81°F | 61°F | 70.8°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 50°F | 62.5°F | 2.32 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 36°F | 49.2°F | 2.34 | 0.9 | 7 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 24°F | 35.6°F | 1.07 | 4.0 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 14°F | 24.5°F | 0.73 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 37°F | 47.6°F | 27.58 | 31.4 | 91 | 18 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −12°C | −6.1°C | 13 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 19 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.2°C | 37 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 73 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 15°C | 20.3°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 2°C | 9.6°C | 59 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 9°C | −5°C | 2.0°C | 27 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 2°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 19 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256135; 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 Oakdale?
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 (7).
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 USC00256135.
When is the last frost in Oakdale?
In Oakdale, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 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 41 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 173 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Oakdale in zone 5a in ZIP code 68761, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Oakdale's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (30 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 USC00256135; 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 Oakdale?
In a normal year in Oakdale, 18 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 115°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −38°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 42.00 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 80.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00256135; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00256135. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Oakdale?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Oakdale, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.0 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.6 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.2 |
| November | 75% | 2.2 |
| December | 69% | 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 Oakdale need?
A normal year in Oakdale brings 7,035 heating degree days, 31% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 735 cooling degree days, 19% 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 2,813 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,361 | 0 |
| February | 1,118 | 0 |
| March | 900 | 1 |
| April | 545 | 4 |
| May | 254 | 37 |
| June | 48 | 154 |
| July | 9 | 260 |
| August | 19 | 199 |
| September | 148 | 75 |
| October | 496 | 6 |
| November | 884 | 0 |
| December | 1,254 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,035 | 735 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256135. 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 Oakdale been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 49.6°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.6°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.3°F | +1.7°F | 24.55 | 24.7 |
| 2023 | 49.6°F | +2.0°F | 28.87 | 30.7 |
Over 121 complete years from 1889 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00256135; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Oakdale's climate compare?
Oakdale is warmer than 13 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 77. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.6°F is warmer than 30%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Oakdale 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 Oakdale 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.
- Neligh, NE1,556 people · 6 mi NW
- Tilden, NE982 people · 7 mi E
- Meadow Grove, NE268 people · 12 mi E
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 Oakdale's climate
What is the coldest month in Oakdale?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Oakdale?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 22 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Oakdale?
June, with 4.35 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.52 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Oakdale in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Oakdale in zone 5a in ZIP code 68761, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Oakdale's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Oakdale?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Elgin, NE7 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Ewing, NE24 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Albion, NE26 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Creighton, NE27 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made