Shenandoah, Iowa climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Shenandoah's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 36.4 inches of precipitation and 26 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.0°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 924 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationShenandoah
- Station IDUSC00137613
- Location40.77°N 95.36°W
- Elevation999 ft (305 m)
- Population4,878
On October 23, the normal high in Shenandoah is 63°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Shenandoah.
- Jan 33° 14°
- Feb 39° 18°
- Mar 52° 29°
- Apr 64° 40°
- May 74° 53°
- Jun 83° 63°
- Jul 87° 67°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 79° 55°
- Oct 66° 42°
- Nov 51° 29°
- Dec 38° 19°
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 Shenandoah each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (6.16 in), the least in January (0.92 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 14°F | 23.5°F | 0.92 | 7.0 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 18°F | 28.4°F | 1.21 | 7.5 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 29°F | 40.4°F | 2.06 | 2.8 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 40°F | 51.8°F | 3.34 | 1.2 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 74°F | 53°F | 63.2°F | 6.16 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 63°F | 73.2°F | 5.53 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 67°F | 76.8°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.6°F | 3.77 | 0.0 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 55°F | 66.7°F | 3.02 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 42°F | 53.9°F | 2.84 | 0.6 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 29°F | 40.1°F | 1.76 | 1.5 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 19°F | 28.5°F | 1.40 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 41°F | 51.8°F | 36.37 | 26.4 | 94 | 32 | 137 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −10°C | −4.7°C | 23 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −2.0°C | 31 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 52 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.0°C | 85 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 156 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 19°C | 24.9°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 72 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.5°C | 45 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −1.9°C | 36 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00137613; 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 Shenandoah?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00137613.
When is the last frost in Shenandoah?
In Shenandoah, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 1 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 201 year in 10 after May 3; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 179 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 199 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 9 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Shenandoah in zone 5b in ZIP code 51601, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Shenandoah's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Iowa · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00137613; 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 Shenandoah?
In a normal year in Shenandoah, 32 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 137 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 94 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 137a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 39high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 94a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1918) is 113°F, on August 4, 1918; the lowest is −29°F, on February 5, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 51.46 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 56.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00137613; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00137613. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Shenandoah?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Shenandoah, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.2 |
| February | 74% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 80% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 76% | 3.3 |
| November | 75% | 2.4 |
| December | 70% | 1.8 |
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 Shenandoah need?
A normal year in Shenandoah brings 5,968 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,182 cooling degree days, 30% 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 3,644 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,285 | 0 |
| February | 1,026 | 0 |
| March | 763 | 2 |
| April | 408 | 12 |
| May | 143 | 86 |
| June | 13 | 259 |
| July | 1 | 367 |
| August | 4 | 302 |
| September | 82 | 134 |
| October | 362 | 20 |
| November | 749 | 1 |
| December | 1,131 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,968 | 1,182 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00137613. 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 Shenandoah been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.3°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.7°F | +0.9°F | 37.53 | 30.0 |
| 2022 | 50.7°F | −1.1°F | 26.81 | 13.3 |
| 2023 | 53.0°F | +1.2°F | 26.97 | 13.5 |
| 2024 | 54.1°F | +2.3°F | 31.49 | 17.4 |
| 2025 | 52.3°F | +0.5°F | 27.62 | 12.0 |
Over 81 complete years from 1935 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00137613; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Shenandoah's climate compare?
Shenandoah is warmer than 128 of the other 131 places with their own NOAA record in Iowa, and wetter than 58. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.8°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah 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.
- Essex, IA721 people · 5 mi NE
- Farragut, IA480 people · 7 mi SW
- Westboro, MO112 people · 16 mi S
- Imogene, IA37 people · 8 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 Shenandoah's climate
What is the coldest month in Shenandoah?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Shenandoah?
Yes: 26 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Shenandoah?
May, with 6.16 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.92 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Shenandoah in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Shenandoah in zone 5b in ZIP code 51601, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Shenandoah's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Shenandoah?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 3. Waiting until May 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Iowa climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sidney, IA15 miles from this station, 50.7°F a year
- Red Oak, IA17 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Clarinda, IA18 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Tarkio, MO24 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made