Paola, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Paola's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 41.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.8°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,051 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPaola
- Station IDUSC00146209
- Location38.59°N 94.88°W
- Elevation860 ft (262 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population5,835
On October 23, the normal high in Paola is 66°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Paola.
- Jan 40° 19°
- Feb 45° 23°
- Mar 56° 33°
- Apr 66° 43°
- May 75° 55°
- Jun 84° 65°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 87° 66°
- Sep 80° 58°
- Oct 69° 45°
- Nov 55° 34°
- Dec 43° 23°
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 Paola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.14 in), the least in January (1.24 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 19°F | 29.3°F | 1.24 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 23°F | 34.3°F | 1.68 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 2.69 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 43°F | 54.6°F | 3.84 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 55°F | 65.3°F | 6.14 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 65°F | 74.4°F | 5.22 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 78.7°F | 4.02 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 87°F | 66°F | 76.7°F | 4.33 | 7 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 58°F | 68.6°F | 4.62 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 45°F | 56.7°F | 3.42 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 34°F | 44.1°F | 2.37 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 43°F | 23°F | 32.9°F | 1.79 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 44°F | 55.0°F | 41.36 | 95 | 39 | 107 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −7°C | −1.5°C | 31 mm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 1.3°C | 43 mm |
| March | 13°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 68 mm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 98 mm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.5°C | 156 mm |
| June | 29°C | 18°C | 23.6°C | 133 mm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 25.9°C | 102 mm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 24.8°C | 110 mm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 117 mm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.7°C | 87 mm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 60 mm |
| December | 6°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 45 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Osawatomie (8 miles away), gets 8 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00146209; 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 Paola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00146209.
When is the last frost in Paola?
In Paola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 13 in half of years and after April 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 21 in half of years and before October 8 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 131 year in 10 after April 28; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 211 year in 10 before October 8; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 191 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 211 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 3 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Paola in zone 6b in ZIP code 66071, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Paola's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (17 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00146209; 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 Paola?
In a normal year in Paola, 39 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 107 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 95 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 107a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 20high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 95a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 111°F, on July 15, 1980; the lowest is −22°F, on February 17, 1903.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 64.01 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 49.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00146209; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00146209. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Paola?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Paola, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and March the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.3 |
| February | 70% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.0 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.5 |
| November | 74% | 2.5 |
| December | 71% | 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 Paola need?
A normal year in Paola brings 4,999 heating degree days, 7% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,385 cooling degree days, 53% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,072 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,105 | 0 |
| February | 861 | 0 |
| March | 645 | 2 |
| April | 329 | 17 |
| May | 92 | 102 |
| June | 6 | 286 |
| July | 0 | 426 |
| August | 2 | 363 |
| September | 53 | 161 |
| October | 285 | 27 |
| November | 627 | 1 |
| December | 995 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,999 | 1,385 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00146209. 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.
How does Paola's climate compare?
Paola is warmer than 71 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 124. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.0°F is warmer than 60%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Paola 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 Paola share this climate record?
5 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.
- Louisburg, KS5,266 people · 11 mi E
- Drexel, MO954 people · 16 mi SE
- West Line, MO119 people · 16 mi E
- Merwin, MO68 people · 20 mi SE
- Somerset, KS43 people · 5 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 Paola's climate
What is the coldest month in Paola?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Paola?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Paola's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Osawatomie (8 miles away), records 8 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Paola?
May, with 6.14 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Paola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Paola in zone 6b in ZIP code 66071, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Paola's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Paola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 13; in one year in ten it comes after April 28. Waiting until April 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hillsdale, KS5 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Osawatomie, KS7 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Olathe, KS19 miles from this station, 55.1°F a year
- Overland Park, KS21 miles from this station, 55.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made