Sheldon, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sheldon's normal year runs from 5°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 31.1 inches of precipitation and 41 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.2°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 28°C, 790 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSheldon
- Station IDUSC00137594
- Location43.18°N 95.85°W
- Elevation1,420 ft (433 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population5,584
On October 23, the normal high in Sheldon is 57°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sheldon.
- Jan 25° 5°
- Feb 30° 9°
- Mar 43° 21°
- Apr 57° 32°
- May 69° 46°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 83° 60°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 74° 48°
- Oct 61° 35°
- Nov 44° 22°
- Dec 30° 11°
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 Sheldon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 5°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.67 in), the least in January (0.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 5°F | 14.9°F | 0.88 | 8.7 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 30°F | 9°F | 19.3°F | 1.00 | 7.2 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 43°F | 21°F | 31.9°F | 1.91 | 6.6 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 3.22 | 3.3 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 46°F | 57.6°F | 4.03 | 0.2 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 68.2°F | 4.67 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 60°F | 71.5°F | 3.61 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 68.9°F | 3.26 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 48°F | 60.9°F | 3.39 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 35°F | 47.5°F | 2.43 | 0.5 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 22°F | 32.8°F | 1.52 | 4.7 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 30°F | 11°F | 20.3°F | 1.17 | 9.6 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 34°F | 44.9°F | 31.09 | 40.8 | 104 | 12 | 171 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −15°C | −9.5°C | 22 mm | 22 cm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −7.1°C | 25 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 6°C | −6°C | −0.1°C | 49 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 82 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.2°C | 102 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 1°C | 8.6°C | 62 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −6°C | 0.4°C | 39 mm | 12 cm |
| December | −1°C | −12°C | −6.5°C | 30 mm | 24 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00137594; 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 Sheldon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00137594.
When is the last frost in Sheldon?
In Sheldon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 28 in half of years and before September 14 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
- May 51 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 281 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 145 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 161 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sheldon in zone 5a in ZIP code 51201, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sheldon's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 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 Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00137594; 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 Sheldon?
In a normal year in Sheldon, 12 days a year reach 90°F, 171 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 171a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 70high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1899) is 110°F, on July 4, 1936; the lowest is −35°F, on February 2, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 50.12 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 73.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00137594; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00137594. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sheldon?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sheldon, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.0 |
| February | 79% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 70% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.3 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 73% | 3.0 |
| November | 72% | 2.0 |
| December | 69% | 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 Sheldon need?
A normal year in Sheldon brings 7,900 heating degree days, 47% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 607 cooling degree days, 33% fewer 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 2,576 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,553 | 0 |
| February | 1,280 | 0 |
| March | 1,026 | 0 |
| April | 611 | 2 |
| May | 266 | 36 |
| June | 46 | 142 |
| July | 13 | 216 |
| August | 31 | 152 |
| September | 175 | 54 |
| October | 547 | 6 |
| November | 968 | 0 |
| December | 1,386 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,900 | 607 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00137594. 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 Sheldon been warmer than normal lately?
Over 95 complete years from 1900 to 2017, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sheldon's climate compare?
Sheldon is warmer than 5 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.9°F is warmer than 19%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sheldon is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Sheldon 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.
- Hospers, IA703 people · 8 mi S
- Boyden, IA694 people · 8 mi W
- Granville, IA302 people · 13 mi S
- Matlock, IA74 people · 6 mi NW
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 Sheldon's climate
What is the coldest month in Sheldon?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 5°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Sheldon?
Yes: 41 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (9.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Sheldon?
June, with 4.67 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sheldon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sheldon in zone 5a in ZIP code 51201, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sheldon's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Sheldon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sanborn, IA10 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Primghar, IA13 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Sibley, IA16 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Sioux Center, IA17 miles from this station, 48.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made