Sidney, Ohio climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sidney's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 41.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.5°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,058 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSidney (1 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00337693
- Location40.27°N 84.15°W
- Elevation940 ft (287 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population20,392
On October 22, the normal high in Sidney is 62°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sidney.
- Jan 34° 18°
- Feb 39° 20°
- Mar 49° 28°
- Apr 62° 38°
- May 73° 49°
- Jun 81° 59°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 65° 42°
- Nov 51° 32°
- Dec 40° 24°
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 Sidney each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.70 in), the least in February (2.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 18°F | 26.2°F | 2.89 | 13 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 39°F | 20°F | 29.3°F | 2.31 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 49°F | 28°F | 38.5°F | 3.17 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 38°F | 50.0°F | 4.08 | 13 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 49°F | 61.0°F | 4.08 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 59°F | 70.1°F | 4.70 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.2°F | 4.57 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.4°F | 3.76 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.2°F | 3.11 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 42°F | 53.3°F | 2.89 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 32°F | 41.3°F | 3.17 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 24°F | 31.7°F | 2.92 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 40°F | 50.9°F | 41.65 | 132 | 14 | 134 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −8°C | −3.2°C | 73 mm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.5°C | 59 mm |
| March | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 81 mm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 10.0°C | 104 mm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.1°C | 104 mm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 119 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 116 mm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.9°C | 96 mm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.4°C | 79 mm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.8°C | 73 mm |
| November | 11°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 81 mm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.2°C | 74 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, New Carlisle (24 miles away), gets 19 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00337693; 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 Sidney?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, August 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 USC00337693.
When is the last frost in Sidney?
In Sidney, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 5 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 271 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before November 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sidney in zone 6a in ZIP code 45365, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sidney's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Ohio · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00337693; 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 Sidney?
In a normal year in Sidney, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 134 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 132 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 134a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 37high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 132a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1978) is 102°F, on June 26, 1988; the lowest is −31°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 56.23 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 55.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00337693; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00337693. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sidney?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sidney, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (57%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 58% | 1.7 |
| February | 63% | 2.6 |
| March | 65% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.5 |
| October | 70% | 3.0 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 57% | 1.5 |
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 Sidney need?
A normal year in Sidney brings 5,911 heating degree days, 10% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 817 cooling degree days, 10% 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 3,156 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,204 | 0 |
| February | 1,000 | 0 |
| March | 824 | 1 |
| April | 456 | 7 |
| May | 184 | 58 |
| June | 28 | 179 |
| July | 3 | 257 |
| August | 8 | 206 |
| September | 89 | 95 |
| October | 375 | 14 |
| November | 711 | 0 |
| December | 1,031 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,911 | 817 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00337693. 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 Sidney been warmer than normal lately?
Over 30 complete years from 1979 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.5°F per century (+0.25°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 Sidney's climate compare?
Sidney is warmer than 37 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Ohio, and wetter than 52. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.9°F is warmer than 44%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sidney 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 Sidney share this climate record?
8 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.
- Fort Loramie, OH1,589 people · 13 mi NW
- Anna, OH1,465 people · 9 mi N
- Botkins, OH1,183 people · 13 mi N
- Quincy, OH545 people · 10 mi E
- Rosewood, OH385 people · 11 mi E
- Port Jefferson, OH302 people · 5 mi NE
- Kettlersville, OH164 people · 13 mi NW
- Newport, OH57 people · 12 mi W
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 Sidney's climate
What is the coldest month in Sidney?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Sidney?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Sidney's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, New Carlisle (24 miles away), records 19 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Sidney?
June, with 4.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sidney in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sidney in zone 6a in ZIP code 45365, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sidney's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Sidney?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Ohio climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Piqua, OH11 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Bellefontaine, OH21 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Urbana, OH23 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Huntsville, OH23 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made