Rochelle, IL 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 Rochelle's primary NOAA station, ROCHELLE.
The climate verdict for Rochelle
Rochelle, Illinois has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 48°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 48°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 36.6"
- precipitation, annual total
- 170 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Rochelle: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00117354 · Rochelle, IL 48°F mean · 36.6" 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 #2,127
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Mundelein
- PRCP-MID 36.6"
- SWING-WIDE 52°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,875 HDD
- STN-1 USC00117354
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Mundelein, IL (+ 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 IL station list.
- Rochelle (this station) 48°F
- Hot Mosby, MT 48°F
- Near Mundelein, IL 48°F
- Near Whitehall, NY 48°F
- Near Broken Bow, NE 48°F
Climate Living Index · Rochelle
Rochelle: 51/100 · grade D
Rochelle publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Rochelle, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 36.6 in · 1.6 from 35 in | 93/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 147 calendar days | 49/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 170 days/year | 42/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 47.9°F · 19.6° from 67.5°F | 31/100 · F |
Rochelle · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Rochelle is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 20.1°F and warmest-month mean 71.8°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
- 71.8°F
- Coldest month
- 20.1°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 Rochelle sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Rochelle's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 31st percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 51st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 85%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Rochelle is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Rochelle compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Rochelle's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Rochelle's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 30 complete annual observations from 1980 to 2016, ROCHELLE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.09°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Rochelle primary station fitted change +0.09 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 1.8" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 1.7" | 26.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.3" | 23.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 3.4" | 8.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 70°F (21°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.7" | 1.0 | 0.6 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.9" | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.5" | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.9" | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 3.3" | 0.4 | 1.2 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.8" | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 47°F (8°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 2.3" | 20.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 1.9" | 28.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 7, short of 90°F on every date, while 147 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 11°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 2, then returns to freezing around November 8, covering 147 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 7, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 4 at 26%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 112 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 25 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 Rochelle.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
8.5 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
12.5 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
Rochelle spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 15%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Rochelle has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 51.7°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 4.9" and February 1.7". The three wettest months together take 37% 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.
How Rochelle's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 111 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 36.6" between them, or roughly 0.33 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
170 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,875
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
692
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IL closest to Rochelle 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).
- Arnold, NE 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Avon, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Belle Fourche, SD 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Cascade, IA 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (36.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Batavia, NY 36.6" · 0.0" off
- Mullan, ID 36.6" · 0.0" off
- Des Moines, IA 36.5" · 0.0" off
- Kingfisher, OK 36.5" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Rochelle's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Rochelle's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,875 annual heating degree days against 692 for cooling. Its 51.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Rochelle's frost-free season lasts about 170 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 Rochelle's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 51.7°F. The annual average is 48°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Rochelle's 36.6 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 Rochelle'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 Rochelle, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Rochelle's climate
How much rain does Rochelle get? ▼
How cold does Rochelle get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Rochelle? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Rochelle's primary station: ROCHELLE (USC00117354). 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 1764746). Match rule for Rochelle: 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 Rochelle 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.