Paola, KS Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Paola's primary NOAA station, PAOLA.
The climate verdict for Paola
Paola, Kansas has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 55°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 55°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 41.4"
- yearly precipitation total
- 191 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Paola: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00146209 · Paola, KS 55°F mean · 41.4" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 55°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,117
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Dewey
- PRCP-MID 41.4"
- SWING-WIDE 49°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,999 HDD
- STN-1 USC00146209
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Dewey, UT (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every KS station list.
- Paola (this station) 55°F
- Cold Florence, KS 55°F
- Hot Osawatomie, KS 55°F
- Near Dewey, UT 55°F
- Near Cassoday, KS 55°F
Climate Living Index · Paola
Paola: 65/100 · grade C
Paola publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Paola, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 41.4 in · 6.4 from 35 in | 77/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 115 calendar days | 67/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.0°F · 12.5° from 67.5°F | 59/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 191 days/year | 58/100 · C |
Paola · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Paola is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.3°F and warmest-month mean 78.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 78.7°F
- Coldest month
- 29.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Paola sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Paola's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 60th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 61st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 79%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Paola is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Paola compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Paola's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 1.2" | 26.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 45°F (7°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.7" | 20.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 2.7" | 14.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.8" | 3.7 | 0.1 |
| May | 75°F (24°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 6.1" | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| June | 84°F (29°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 74°F (24°C) | 5.2" | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| July | 89°F (31°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 4.0" | 0.0 | 14.5 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 4.3" | 0.0 | 15.2 |
| September | 80°F (27°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 4.6" | 0.1 | 3.1 |
| October | 69°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.4" | 3.1 | 0.2 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 2.4" | 13.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 43°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 1.8" | 24.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 89°F around July 20, short of 90°F on every date, while 115 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 19°F near January 16.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 13, then returns to freezing around November 20, covering 115 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 5, when 38% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 12 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 96 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 12 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Paola.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
6.2 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
Paola spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 33% of the annual total and December through February 11%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Paola has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 49.4°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 6.1" and January 1.2". The three wettest months together take 39% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Paola, it arrives in quantity
41.4" of precipitation falls across only about 95 wet days here, averaging 0.43 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 95 a year, 26% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.43 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- February, about 5
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 13
50% probability date
Growing Season
191 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,999
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,385
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KS closest to Paola on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (55°F here).
- Buffalo, MO 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Carmi, IL 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Charleston, IL 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Corrales, NM 55°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (41.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Madill, OK 41.4" · 0.0" off
- Montpelier, VT 41.4" · 0.0" off
- Washington, PA 41.3" · 0.0" off
- Dayton, OH 41.3" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Paola's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Paola's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,999 annual heating degree days against 1,385 for cooling. Its 49.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Paola's frost-free season lasts about 191 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Paola's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 49.4°F. The annual average is 55°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Paola's 41.4 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Paola's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Paola, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Paola's climate
How much rain does Paola get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Paola get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Paola? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Paola's primary station: PAOLA (USC00146209). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 2054250). Match rule for Paola: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Paola comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.