Russell, KS Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Russell's primary NOAA station, RUSSELL 7E.
The climate verdict for Russell
Russell, Kansas has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 54°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 54°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 28.1"
- yearly precipitation total
- 180 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Russell: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00147043 · Russell, KS 54°F mean · 28.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 54°F
- RANK-MID #3,979
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Clay Ctr
- PRCP-MID 28.1"
- SWING-WIDE 50°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,307 HDD
- STN-1 USC00147043
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Clay Ctr, KS (+ 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.
- Hot Granite Peak Du…, UT 55°F
- Russell (this station) 54°F
- Cold Concordia, KS 54°F
- Near Clay Ctr, KS 54°F
- Near Garfield, UT 54°F
Climate Living Index · Russell
Russell: 47/100 · grade D
Russell publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Russell, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 28.1 in · 6.9 from 35 in | 75/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 54.3°F · 13.2° from 67.5°F | 57/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 180 days/year | 50/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 192 calendar days | 18/100 · F |
Russell · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Russell is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 29.5°F and warmest-month mean 79.6°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
- 79.6°F
- Coldest month
- 29.5°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 Russell sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Russell's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 58th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 38th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 81%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Russell is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Russell compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Russell'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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F (5°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.7" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 46°F (8°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.9" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.4" | 19.3 | 0.2 |
| April | 67°F (19°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.3" | 7.5 | 0.2 |
| May | 76°F (25°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 4.2" | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| June | 88°F (31°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.0" | 0.0 | 14.2 |
| July | 92°F (34°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 80°F (26°C) | 4.0" | 0.0 | 20.4 |
| August | 90°F (32°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 14.4 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 2.4" | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| October | 69°F (21°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.0" | 5.2 | 0.8 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 1.3" | 19.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (6°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.9" | 29.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Russell works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 14 and hold at or above 90°F on 55 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 137 dates, bottoming at 17°F around January 6.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 22 through August 15, covering 55 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 30 to October 14.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 23, then returns to freezing around November 8, covering 137 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.
The widest day
March 25 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Russell.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Russell runs a summer-peaked wet season
42% of Russell'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 May at 4.2", on a wide 50.1°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: May, July, June, taking 44% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.7".
- 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 19
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
180 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,307
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,444
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KS closest to Russell 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 (54°F here).
- Battle Mountain, NV 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Bedford, IN 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Caesars Head, SC 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Campo, CO 54°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (28.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Seiling, OK 28.1" · 0.0" off
- Vermillion, SD 28.0" · 0.1" off
- Benson, MN 28.1" · 0.1" off
- Walker, MN 28.0" · 0.1" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Russell's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Russell's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,307 annual heating degree days against 1,444 for cooling. Its 50.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Russell's frost-free season lasts about 180 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 Russell's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 50.1°F. The annual average is 54°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Russell's 28.1 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 Russell'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 Russell, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Russell's climate
How much rain does Russell get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Russell get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Russell? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Russell's primary station: RUSSELL 7E (USC00147043). 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 2061825). Match rule for Russell: 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 Russell 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.