Ogallala, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ogallala's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 19.5 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 496 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOgallala
- Station IDUSC00256200
- Location41.13°N 101.72°W
- Elevation3,230 ft (985 m)
- Population4,751
On October 23, the normal high in Ogallala is 62°F and the normal low 33°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 Ogallala.
- Jan 40° 15°
- Feb 43° 18°
- Mar 53° 26°
- Apr 62° 35°
- May 72° 46°
- Jun 83° 57°
- Jul 90° 63°
- Aug 87° 61°
- Sep 79° 50°
- Oct 65° 36°
- Nov 51° 25°
- Dec 41° 16°
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 Ogallala each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.22 in), the least in December (0.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 15°F | 27.5°F | 0.51 | 4.6 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 43°F | 18°F | 30.3°F | 0.58 | 5.6 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 26°F | 39.6°F | 1.12 | 3.7 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 35°F | 48.2°F | 2.23 | 3.2 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 46°F | 58.7°F | 3.22 | 0.2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 57°F | 70.0°F | 3.11 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 90°F | 63°F | 76.2°F | 2.90 | 0.0 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 87°F | 61°F | 74.1°F | 2.09 | 0.0 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 50°F | 64.8°F | 1.53 | 0.0 | 5 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 36°F | 50.7°F | 1.26 | 0.6 | 6 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 25°F | 38.1°F | 0.59 | 2.6 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 16°F | 28.8°F | 0.40 | 4.1 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 37°F | 50.6°F | 19.54 | 24.6 | 73 | 46 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −9°C | −2.5°C | 13 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 6°C | −8°C | −0.9°C | 15 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 12°C | −4°C | 4.2°C | 28 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 9.0°C | 57 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 82 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 29°C | 14°C | 21.1°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 17°C | 24.6°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 16°C | 23.4°C | 53 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 10°C | 18.2°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 2°C | 10.4°C | 32 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 11°C | −4°C | 3.4°C | 15 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 5°C | −9°C | −1.8°C | 10 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256200; 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 Ogallala?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00256200.
When is the last frost in Ogallala?
In Ogallala, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 29 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 11 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 29; 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 183 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ogallala in zone 5b in ZIP code 69153, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ogallala's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (24 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 USC00256200; 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 Ogallala?
In a normal year in Ogallala, 46 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 31high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 115°F, on July 24, 1940; the lowest is −36°F, on December 22, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 29.88 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 66.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00256200; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00256200. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ogallala?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ogallala, 4.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.3 |
| February | 75% | 3.1 |
| March | 76% | 4.4 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 6.3 |
| June | 84% | 7.2 |
| July | 87% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 85% | 5.0 |
| October | 79% | 3.5 |
| November | 79% | 2.5 |
| December | 76% | 2.0 |
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 Ogallala need?
A normal year in Ogallala brings 6,202 heating degree days, 15% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 979 cooling degree days, 8% 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 3,168 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,161 | 0 |
| February | 973 | 0 |
| March | 789 | 0 |
| April | 506 | 2 |
| May | 236 | 41 |
| June | 37 | 186 |
| July | 3 | 351 |
| August | 10 | 292 |
| September | 108 | 102 |
| October | 448 | 5 |
| November | 809 | 0 |
| December | 1,124 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,202 | 979 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256200. 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 Ogallala been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.5°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.6°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.5°F | +0.9°F | 18.30 | 18.0 |
| 2022 | 49.9°F | −0.7°F | 6.13 | 24.1 |
| 2023 | 50.2°F | −0.4°F | 15.09 | 48.9 |
| 2024 | 52.4°F | +1.8°F | 13.83 | 10.7 |
| 2025 | 51.5°F | +0.9°F | 19.46 | 11.5 |
Over 77 complete years from 1921 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°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 USC00256200; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ogallala's climate compare?
Ogallala is warmer than 92 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ogallala 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 Ogallala share this climate record?
Brule has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Brule, NE307 people · 9 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 Ogallala's climate
What is the coldest month in Ogallala?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Ogallala?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Ogallala?
May, with 3.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ogallala in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ogallala in zone 5b in ZIP code 69153, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Ogallala's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Ogallala?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kingsley Dam, NE6 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Big Springs, NE19 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Madrid, NE21 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Julesburg, CO30 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