Osceola, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Osceola's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 28.8 inches of precipitation and 29 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 731 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOsceola
- Station IDUSC00256375
- Location41.18°N 97.55°W
- Elevation1,662 ft (507 m)
- Population885
On October 23, the normal high in Osceola is 62°F and the normal low 37°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 Osceola.
- Jan 34° 13°
- Feb 39° 16°
- Mar 52° 26°
- Apr 63° 37°
- May 73° 50°
- Jun 82° 61°
- Jul 86° 65°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 65° 40°
- Nov 50° 27°
- Dec 37° 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 Osceola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.86 in), the least in January (0.66 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 13°F | 23.7°F | 0.66 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 16°F | 27.7°F | 0.78 | 7.5 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 26°F | 38.9°F | 1.62 | 4.1 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 37°F | 49.8°F | 2.90 | 2.0 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 50°F | 61.5°F | 4.86 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 61°F | 71.5°F | 4.20 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 65°F | 75.4°F | 3.15 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.0°F | 3.58 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.6°F | 2.42 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 40°F | 52.5°F | 2.17 | 0.9 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 27°F | 38.5°F | 1.36 | 2.8 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 17°F | 27.3°F | 1.09 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 28.79 | 29.3 | 87 | 23 | 144 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −10°C | −4.6°C | 17 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 4°C | −9°C | −2.4°C | 20 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.8°C | 41 mm | 10 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 9.9°C | 74 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.1°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 11.4°C | 55 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −3°C | 3.6°C | 35 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 28 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256375; 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 Osceola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00256375.
When is the last frost in Osceola?
In Osceola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 25 in half of years and after May 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 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
- April 251 year in 10 after May 8; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 170 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Osceola in zone 5b in ZIP code 68651, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Osceola's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°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 USC00256375; 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 Osceola?
In a normal year in Osceola, 23 days a year reach 90°F, 144 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 144a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 42high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 116°F, on July 25, 1936; the lowest is −31°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 39.50 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 60.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00256375; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00256375. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Osceola?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Osceola, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.2 |
| February | 76% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.7 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.3 |
| November | 77% | 2.4 |
| December | 72% | 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 Osceola need?
A normal year in Osceola brings 6,259 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 993 cooling degree days, 9% 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 3,333 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,280 | 0 |
| February | 1,044 | 0 |
| March | 810 | 1 |
| April | 462 | 8 |
| May | 174 | 67 |
| June | 18 | 215 |
| July | 3 | 325 |
| August | 7 | 255 |
| September | 94 | 110 |
| October | 401 | 12 |
| November | 795 | 0 |
| December | 1,170 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,259 | 993 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00256375. 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 Osceola been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.8°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.5°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.4°F | +0.9°F | 36.10 | 22.7 |
| 2022 | 50.6°F | +0.1°F | 17.18 | 8.5 |
| 2023 | 53.1°F | +2.6°F | 20.00 | 24.8 |
| 2024 | 54.3°F | +3.8°F | 34.73 | 20.4 |
| 2025 | 52.8°F | +2.3°F | 24.71 | 20.2 |
Over 72 complete years from 1930 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 USC00256375; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Osceola's climate compare?
Osceola is warmer than 87 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 92. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.5°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Osceola 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 Osceola 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.
- Stromsburg, NE1,159 people · 5 mi SW
- Shelby, NE744 people · 7 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 Osceola's climate
What is the coldest month in Osceola?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Osceola?
Yes: 29 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Osceola?
May, with 4.86 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.66 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Osceola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Osceola in zone 5b in ZIP code 68651, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Osceola's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Osceola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 25; in one year in ten it comes after May 8. Waiting until May 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Surprise, NE14 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Genoa, NE22 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- York, NE22 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- David City, NE22 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made