Shelbyville, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Shelbyville's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 41.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.0°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,053 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationShelbyville Dam
- Station IDUSC00117876
- Location39.41°N 88.77°W
- Elevation650 ft (198 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population4,540
On October 14, the normal high in Shelbyville is 68°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Shelbyville.
- Jan 36° 19°
- Feb 41° 23°
- Mar 52° 32°
- Apr 64° 43°
- May 74° 54°
- Jun 83° 63°
- Jul 86° 67°
- Aug 85° 65°
- Sep 80° 57°
- Oct 67° 45°
- Nov 52° 34°
- Dec 41° 25°
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 Shelbyville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.68 in), the least in February (2.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 19°F | 27.6°F | 2.60 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 41°F | 23°F | 32.0°F | 2.07 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 32°F | 42.0°F | 2.71 | 9 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 43°F | 53.6°F | 4.33 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 54°F | 64.0°F | 4.65 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 63°F | 72.9°F | 4.68 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 67°F | 76.3°F | 4.06 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 65°F | 74.7°F | 3.41 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 57°F | 68.1°F | 3.06 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 45°F | 55.9°F | 3.57 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 34°F | 42.9°F | 3.71 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 25°F | 32.6°F | 2.59 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 44°F | 53.6°F | 41.44 | 108 | 26 | 114 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −7°C | −2.4°C | 66 mm |
| February | 5°C | −5°C | 0.0°C | 53 mm |
| March | 11°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 69 mm |
| April | 18°C | 6°C | 12.0°C | 110 mm |
| May | 23°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 118 mm |
| June | 28°C | 17°C | 22.7°C | 119 mm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.6°C | 103 mm |
| August | 29°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 87 mm |
| September | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 78 mm |
| October | 19°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 91 mm |
| November | 11°C | 1°C | 6.1°C | 94 mm |
| December | 5°C | −4°C | 0.3°C | 66 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Windsor (10 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 USC00117876; 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 Shelbyville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, 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 USC00117876.
When is the last frost in Shelbyville?
In Shelbyville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 10 in half of years and after April 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 in half of years and before October 8 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 101 year in 10 after April 28; 9 in 10 after March 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 8; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 195 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 217 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 31 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shelbyville in zone 6a in ZIP code 62565, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Shelbyville's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (16 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00117876; 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 Shelbyville?
In a normal year in Shelbyville, 26 days a year reach 90°F, 114 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 108 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 114a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 108a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00117876.
How sunny is Shelbyville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Shelbyville, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 1.9 |
| February | 65% | 2.7 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.5 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 83% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 74% | 3.3 |
| November | 70% | 2.3 |
| December | 61% | 1.6 |
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 Shelbyville need?
A normal year in Shelbyville brings 5,321 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,186 cooling degree days, 31% 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 3,769 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,161 | 0 |
| February | 924 | 0 |
| March | 716 | 3 |
| April | 356 | 13 |
| May | 122 | 91 |
| June | 11 | 250 |
| July | 1 | 351 |
| August | 2 | 304 |
| September | 54 | 147 |
| October | 308 | 27 |
| November | 664 | 1 |
| December | 1,003 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,321 | 1,186 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00117876. 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 Shelbyville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.7°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.6°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 52.8°F | −0.8°F | 43.94 |
| 2023 | 56.0°F | +2.4°F | 29.84 |
| 2024 | 56.2°F | +2.6°F | 43.56 |
| 2025 | 54.7°F | +1.1°F | 31.00 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00117876. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Shelbyville's climate compare?
Shelbyville is warmer than 102 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 96. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.6°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Shelbyville 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 Shelbyville share this climate record?
4 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.
- Findlay, IL649 people · 8 mi N
- Cowden, IL499 people · 12 mi SW
- Westervelt, IL24 people · 7 mi NW
- Lakewood, IL18 people · 9 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 Shelbyville's climate
What is the coldest month in Shelbyville?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Shelbyville?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Shelbyville's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Windsor (10 miles away), records 14 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Shelbyville?
June, with 4.68 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Shelbyville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Shelbyville in zone 6a in ZIP code 62565, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Shelbyville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Shelbyville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 10; in one year in ten it comes after April 28. Waiting until April 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Windsor, IL10 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Sullivan, IL14 miles from this station, 53.0°F a year
- Neoga, IL15 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Pana, IL17 miles from this station, 53.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made