Salem, Missouri climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Salem's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 47.0 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.9°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,194 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSalem
- Station IDUSC00237506
- Location37.63°N 91.54°W
- Elevation1,205 ft (367 m)
- Population4,726
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Salem.
- Jan 43° 22°
- Feb 48° 26°
- Mar 57° 34°
- Apr 68° 44°
- May 76° 53°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 88° 65°
- Aug 87° 63°
- Sep 80° 56°
- Oct 69° 45°
- Nov 56° 35°
- Dec 45° 26°
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 Salem each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.63 in), the least in January (2.69 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 22°F | 32.2°F | 2.69 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 26°F | 36.7°F | 2.81 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 34°F | 45.8°F | 4.04 | 0.5 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 44°F | 56.1°F | 4.98 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 53°F | 64.3°F | 5.63 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 4.22 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 88°F | 65°F | 76.3°F | 3.68 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 63°F | 75.1°F | 4.33 | 0.0 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 56°F | 67.5°F | 4.03 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 45°F | 56.8°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 35°F | 45.2°F | 3.93 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 26°F | 35.6°F | 2.95 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 44°F | 55.3°F | 47.00 | 1.3 | 111 | 39 | 91 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −6°C | 0.1°C | 68 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 71 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 14°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 103 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 20°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 143 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 18°C | 24.6°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.9°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 2°C | 7.3°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 7°C | −3°C | 2.0°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00237506; 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 Salem?
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 (7).
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 USC00237506.
When is the last frost in Salem?
In Salem, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 17 in half of years and after May 5 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 171 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 182 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 208 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 3 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Salem in zone 6b in ZIP code 65560, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Missouri · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00237506; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Salem?
In a normal year in Salem, 39 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 91 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 91a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 112°F, on June 9, 1911; the lowest is −28°F, on January 13, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2008, with 64.04 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 34.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00237506; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00237506. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Salem?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Salem, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.3 |
| February | 67% | 3.0 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.6 |
| November | 73% | 2.5 |
| December | 67% | 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 Salem need?
A normal year in Salem brings 4,671 heating degree days, 13% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,168 cooling degree days, 29% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,910 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,017 | 0 |
| February | 791 | 0 |
| March | 601 | 4 |
| April | 290 | 23 |
| May | 109 | 88 |
| June | 14 | 225 |
| July | 1 | 350 |
| August | 3 | 316 |
| September | 60 | 135 |
| October | 278 | 25 |
| November | 596 | 2 |
| December | 911 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,671 | 1,168 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00237506. 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 Salem been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.9°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.3°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 55.4°F | +0.1°F | 49.71 | – |
| 2023 | 57.5°F | +2.2°F | 37.52 | – |
| 2025 | 55.9°F | +0.6°F | 38.22 | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00237506. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Salem's climate compare?
Salem is warmer than 67 of the other 133 places with their own NOAA record in Missouri, and wetter than 99. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.3°F is warmer than 61%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Salem is Cfa: temperate, 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.
What do Salem's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Salem. This page uses Salem; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem (10 mi W) USW00023909 | 10 mi W | 1,198 ft | 54.3°F | 21°F | 87°F | 44.0 | – | April 23 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Salem's climate
What is the coldest month in Salem?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Salem?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (0.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Salem?
May, with 5.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 2.69 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Salem in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Salem in zone 6b in ZIP code 65560, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Salem?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 17; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Missouri climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Licking, MO20 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Rolla, MO26 miles from this station, 56.3°F a year
- Round Spring (2 mi SW), MO27 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Steelville, MO27 miles from this station, 53.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made