Oberlin, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Oberlin's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 21.8 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 33°C, 553 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOberlin
- Station IDUSC00145906
- Location39.82°N 100.52°W
- Elevation2,586 ft (788 m)
- Population1,610
On October 23, the normal high in Oberlin is 65°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Oberlin.
- Jan 42° 16°
- Feb 45° 18°
- Mar 56° 26°
- Apr 65° 36°
- May 74° 47°
- Jun 86° 58°
- Jul 91° 64°
- Aug 89° 62°
- Sep 81° 51°
- Oct 68° 38°
- Nov 54° 25°
- Dec 43° 17°
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 Oberlin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.30 in), the least in January (0.42 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 16°F | 28.8°F | 0.42 | 5.7 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 18°F | 31.6°F | 0.68 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 26°F | 41.3°F | 1.03 | 3.4 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 36°F | 50.3°F | 2.13 | 1.9 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 47°F | 60.4°F | 3.30 | 0.2 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 58°F | 72.1°F | 3.01 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 64°F | 77.4°F | 3.27 | 0.0 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 62°F | 75.1°F | 3.07 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 51°F | 66.2°F | 1.72 | 0.0 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 38°F | 52.6°F | 1.69 | 1.3 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 25°F | 39.6°F | 0.80 | 2.3 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 17°F | 29.8°F | 0.67 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 38°F | 52.1°F | 21.79 | 25.2 | 73 | 55 | 164 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −9°C | −1.8°C | 11 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 7°C | −8°C | −0.2°C | 17 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 13°C | −3°C | 5.2°C | 26 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 10.2°C | 54 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 23°C | 8°C | 15.8°C | 84 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 30°C | 15°C | 22.3°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 18°C | 25.2°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 16°C | 23.9°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 11°C | 19.0°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 3°C | 11.4°C | 43 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 4.2°C | 20 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 6°C | −8°C | −1.2°C | 17 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145906; 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 Oberlin?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00145906.
When is the last frost in Oberlin?
In Oberlin, 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 11 in half of years and before September 27 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 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 111 year in 10 before September 27; 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 184 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Oberlin in zone 6a in ZIP code 67749, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Oberlin's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (24 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 Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00145906; 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 Oberlin?
In a normal year in Oberlin, 55 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 164 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 55a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 164a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 27high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1913) is 114°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −32°F, on January 11, 1918.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1965, with 34.66 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 84.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00145906; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00145906. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Oberlin?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Oberlin, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.5 |
| February | 76% | 3.3 |
| March | 78% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.6 |
| May | 78% | 6.4 |
| June | 86% | 7.2 |
| July | 88% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.2 |
| September | 84% | 5.1 |
| October | 80% | 3.8 |
| November | 80% | 2.8 |
| December | 77% | 2.2 |
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 Oberlin need?
A normal year in Oberlin brings 5,807 heating degree days, 8% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,137 cooling degree days, 25% 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 3,471 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,124 | 0 |
| February | 934 | 0 |
| March | 737 | 0 |
| April | 446 | 5 |
| May | 195 | 54 |
| June | 23 | 236 |
| July | 2 | 385 |
| August | 6 | 319 |
| September | 93 | 127 |
| October | 396 | 10 |
| November | 761 | 0 |
| December | 1,091 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,807 | 1,137 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00145906. 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 Oberlin been warmer than normal lately?
Over 62 complete years from 1914 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.1°F per century (+0.01°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Oberlin's climate compare?
Oberlin is warmer than 11 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 24. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.1°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Oberlin 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 Oberlin share this climate record?
4 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.
- Jennings, KS79 people · 15 mi SE
- Danbury, NE73 people · 16 mi N
- Lebanon, NE48 people · 20 mi NE
- Dresden, KS43 people · 15 mi S
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 Oberlin's climate
What is the coldest month in Oberlin?
January, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Oberlin?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Oberlin?
May, with 3.30 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Oberlin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Oberlin in zone 6a in ZIP code 67749, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Oberlin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Oberlin?
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
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- McCook, NE27 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Atwood, KS28 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Norton, KS30 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Hoxie, KS32 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made