Salina, KS Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Salina's primary NOAA station, SALINA MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for Salina
Salina, Kansas has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 56°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 29.7"
- precipitation, annual total
- 188 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Salina: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00003919 · Salina, KS 56°F mean · 29.7" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,322
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Mcpherson
- PRCP-MID 29.7"
- SWING-WIDE 50°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,931 HDD
- STN-1 USW00003919
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Mcpherson, KS ( -0.1 °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.
- Salina (this station) 56°F
- Cold Council Grove L…, KS 56°F
- Near Mcpherson, KS 56°F
- Near Hays, KS 56°F
- Near Sterling, KS 56°F
Climate Living Index · Salina
Salina: 52/100 · grade D
Salina publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Salina, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 29.7 in · 5.3 from 35 in | 81/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.8°F · 11.7° from 67.5°F | 62/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 188 days/year | 56/100 · C |
| Summer moisture balance | 63.2°F mean dew point | 43/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 176 calendar days | 28/100 · F |
Salina · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Salina is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 30.8°F and warmest-month mean 80.9°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
- 80.9°F
- Coldest month
- 30.8°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 Salina sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Salina's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 63rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 40th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 81%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Salina is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Salina compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Salina's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% 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%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Salina's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 68 complete annual observations from 1954 to 2025, SALINA MUNI AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.20°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Salina primary station fitted change +0.20 °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 | 41°F (5°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 0.7" | 28.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 46°F (8°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.9" | 22.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.8" | 14.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 67°F (19°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.7" | 4.0 | 0.5 |
| May | 77°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 5.0" | 0.2 | 3.4 |
| June | 88°F (31°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 14.9 |
| July | 93°F (34°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 3.9" | 0.0 | 21.6 |
| August | 90°F (32°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 18.0 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 8.3 |
| October | 69°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.2" | 3.0 | 0.9 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 1.2" | 15.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 43°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 1.1" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Salina works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 13 and hold at or above 90°F on 58 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 118 dates, bottoming at 20°F around January 8.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 22 through August 18, covering 58 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 28 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 12, then returns to freezing around November 16, covering 118 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 24, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 9 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 89 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Salina.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
5.0 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
Salina runs a summer-peaked wet season
38% of Salina'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 5.0", 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 43% 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.
How Salina's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 89 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 29.7" between them, or roughly 0.34 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 23
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 18
50% probability date
Growing Season
188 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,931
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,624
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 10.1 | 62% | 24% |
| February | 60% | 11.6 | 62% | 24% |
| March | 60% | 12.5 | 58% | 24% |
| April | 64% | 11.5 | 54% | 25% |
| May | 65% | 10.1 | 60% | 16% |
| June | 59% | 11.1 | 67% | 8% |
| July | 60% | 9.6 | 68% | 8% |
| August | 61% | 9.4 | 71% | 9% |
| September | 60% | 10.4 | 74% | 13% |
| October | 61% | 10.6 | 69% | 19% |
| November | 65% | 10.5 | 69% | 19% |
| December | 69% | 10.3 | 66% | 24% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside KS closest to Salina 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 (56°F here).
- Bryson City, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Cassville, MO 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Covelo, CA 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Elnora, IN 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (29.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Breckenridge, TX 29.7" · 0.0" off
- Cambridge, MN 29.7" · 0.0" off
- Lytle, TX 29.6" · 0.1" off
- Litchfield, MN 29.8" · 0.1" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Salina's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Salina's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,931 annual heating degree days against 1,624 for cooling. Its 50.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Salina's frost-free season lasts about 188 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 Salina's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 50.1°F. The annual average is 56°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Salina's 29.7 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 Salina'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 Salina, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Salina's climate
How much rain does Salina get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Salina get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Salina? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Salina's primary station: SALINA MUNI AP (USW00003919). 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 2062700). Match rule for Salina: 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 Salina 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.