Primghar, IA 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 Primghar's primary NOAA station, PRIMGHAR.
The climate verdict for Primghar
Winter sets the terms in Primghar, Iowa. A pronounced 56.3°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 48°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 48°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 31.4"
- annual precipitation · 35" snow
- 164 days
- frost-free growing season
Primghar: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00136800 · Primghar, IA 48°F mean · 31.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,196
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chamberlain
- PRCP-MID 31.4"
- SWING-WIDE 56°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,989 HDD
- STN-1 USC00136800
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Chamberlain Muni, SD (+ 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 IA station list.
- Primghar (this station) 48°F
- Cold Crofton, NE 48°F
- Hot Menno, SD 48°F
- Near Chamberlain, SD 48°F
- Near Little Sioux, IA 48°F
Climate Living Index · Primghar
Primghar: 47/100 · grade D
Primghar publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Primghar, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 31.4 in · 3.6 from 35 in | 87/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 151 calendar days | 46/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 164 days/year | 37/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 34.8 inches/year | 33/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.2°F · 19.3° from 67.5°F | 32/100 · F |
Primghar · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Primghar is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 18.0°F and warmest-month mean 74.3°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
- 74.3°F
- Coldest month
- 18.0°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 Primghar sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Primghar's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 32nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 42nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 94%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Primghar is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Primghar compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Primghar's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Primghar's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 69 complete annual observations from 1937 to 2025, PRIMGHAR warmed at a fitted rate of 0.17°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Primghar primary station fitted change +0.17 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.8" | 8.4" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.9" | 6.7" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.7" | 6.2" | 23.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.3" | 2.4" | 10.5 | 0.1 |
| May | 72°F (22°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.1" | 0.0" | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| July | 85°F (29°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 74°F (24°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| August | 82°F (28°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.4 |
| September | 76°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.3" | 0.4" | 8.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 45°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.5" | 2.5" | 21.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (0°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.0" | 8.2" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 8, short of 90°F on every date, while 151 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 9°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 2, then returns to freezing around November 4, covering 151 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 22, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 1 at 13%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 77 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 17 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 Primghar.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.4"
3.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.2"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.4"
8.0 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
6.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.5"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.2"
4.1 days with precipitation
Primghar runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Primghar's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 5.0", on a wide 56.3°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, July, taking 41% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.8".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
When it rains in Primghar, it arrives in quantity
31.3" of precipitation falls across only about 77 wet days here, averaging 0.41 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 77 a year, 21% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.41 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- January, about 4
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.
Winter brings real snow to Primghar
Primghar averages 34.8 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 14 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 34.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 14 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 11% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 10
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 29
50% probability date
Growing Season
164 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,989
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
892
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Primghar 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 (48°F here).
- Broadus, MT 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Compton, IL 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Copake, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Deposit, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (31.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Amasa, MI 31.4" · 0.0" off
- Dansville, NY 31.4" · 0.0" off
- Yale, MI 31.3" · 0.0" off
- New London, MN 31.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Primghar
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Primghar logs 6,989 heating degree days, more than twice its 892 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.3°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Primghar's frost-free season lasts about 164 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Primghar coldest normal
January
Averaging 18°F (-8°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Primghar typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Primghar snow peak
January
Primghar averages 34.8 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Primghar's climate
How much snow does Primghar get? ▼
How cold does Primghar get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Primghar? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Primghar's primary station: PRIMGHAR (USC00136800). 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 1964650). Match rule for Primghar: 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 Primghar 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.