Richmond, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Richmond's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 42.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.4°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,068 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRichmond (3 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00237116
- Location39.24°N 93.97°W
- Elevation700 ft (213 m)
- Population5,939
On October 23, the normal high in Richmond is 64°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Richmond.
- Jan 38° 15°
- Feb 42° 20°
- Mar 54° 30°
- Apr 65° 40°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 86° 63°
- Sep 79° 54°
- Oct 67° 41°
- Nov 53° 30°
- Dec 42° 21°
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 Richmond each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.31 in), the least in January (1.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 15°F | 26.2°F | 1.28 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 20°F | 31.1°F | 1.64 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 30°F | 41.9°F | 2.73 | 8 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 40°F | 52.3°F | 4.12 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.8°F | 6.31 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 72.3°F | 5.38 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.7°F | 4.92 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 63°F | 74.1°F | 4.18 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 54°F | 66.5°F | 4.04 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 3.35 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 30°F | 41.5°F | 2.41 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 42°F | 21°F | 31.1°F | 1.70 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 41°F | 52.6°F | 42.06 | 95 | 34 | 131 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −9°C | −3.2°C | 33 mm |
| February | 6°C | −7°C | −0.5°C | 42 mm |
| March | 12°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 69 mm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.3°C | 105 mm |
| May | 24°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 160 mm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 137 mm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.8°C | 125 mm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.4°C | 106 mm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 19.2°C | 103 mm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 85 mm |
| November | 12°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 61 mm |
| December | 5°C | −6°C | −0.5°C | 43 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Lexington (7 miles away), gets 14 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00237116; 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 Richmond?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00237116.
When is the last frost in Richmond?
In Richmond, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 3 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 191 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after April 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 180 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 201 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Richmond in zone 6a in ZIP code 64085, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Richmond's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00237116; 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 Richmond?
In a normal year in Richmond, 34 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 131 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 95 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 131a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 29high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 95a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00237116.
How sunny is Richmond?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Richmond, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and January the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.1 |
| February | 70% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 3.8 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 80% | 6.4 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 75% | 3.3 |
| November | 73% | 2.4 |
| December | 68% | 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 Richmond need?
A normal year in Richmond brings 5,597 heating degree days, 4% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,099 cooling degree days, 21% 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 3,584 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,202 | 0 |
| February | 948 | 0 |
| March | 718 | 1 |
| April | 389 | 8 |
| May | 142 | 73 |
| June | 11 | 228 |
| July | 2 | 363 |
| August | 4 | 286 |
| September | 75 | 120 |
| October | 351 | 19 |
| November | 706 | 1 |
| December | 1,051 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,597 | 1,099 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00237116. 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 Richmond been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 53.5°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.5°F | +0.9°F | 48.07 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00237116. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Richmond's climate compare?
Richmond is warmer than 19 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 44. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.6°F is warmer than 52%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Richmond 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 Richmond share this climate record?
8 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.
- Wellington, MO760 people · 7 mi S
- Orrick, MO740 people · 9 mi W
- Henrietta, MO273 people · 2 mi E
- Rayville, MO232 people · 9 mi NW
- Napoleon, MO213 people · 10 mi SW
- Camden, MO177 people · 4 mi SW
- Fleming, MO114 people · 5 mi SW
- Levasy, MO73 people · 11 mi SW
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 Richmond's climate
What is the coldest month in Richmond?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Richmond?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Richmond's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Lexington (7 miles away), records 14 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Richmond?
May, with 6.31 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Richmond in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Richmond in zone 6a in ZIP code 64085, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Richmond's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Richmond?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lexington, MO7 miles from this station, 54.9°F a year
- Higginsville, MO18 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Kearney, MO21 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Waverly, MO24 miles from this station, 54.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made