Spencer, Indiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Spencer's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 49.7 inches of precipitation and 16 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.6°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,262 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSpencer
- Station IDUSC00128290
- Location39.28°N 86.77°W
- Elevation549 ft (167 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,500
On October 23, the normal high in Spencer is 64°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Spencer.
- Jan 37° 20°
- Feb 42° 23°
- Mar 52° 31°
- Apr 64° 41°
- May 74° 51°
- Jun 82° 60°
- Jul 85° 64°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 79° 54°
- Oct 67° 42°
- Nov 53° 32°
- Dec 42° 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 Spencer each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.82 in), the least in February (2.64 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 20°F | 28.7°F | 3.45 | 6.9 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 42°F | 23°F | 32.1°F | 2.64 | 4.2 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 3.65 | 1.5 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 41°F | 52.5°F | 5.34 | 0.1 | 13 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 5.19 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 5.82 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 85°F | 64°F | 74.7°F | 4.93 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.2°F | 3.58 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 54°F | 66.4°F | 3.76 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 42°F | 54.5°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 32°F | 42.7°F | 4.01 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 42°F | 25°F | 33.4°F | 3.46 | 2.8 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 42°F | 52.8°F | 49.69 | 15.8 | 126 | 18 | 129 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −7°C | −1.8°C | 88 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 67 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 93 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 136 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 148 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.9°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 19.1°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.5°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 12°C | 0°C | 5.9°C | 102 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 5°C | −4°C | 0.8°C | 88 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00128290; 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 Spencer?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00128290.
When is the last frost in Spencer?
In Spencer, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 7 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 7; 9 in 10 after April 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 180 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 204 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 7 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Spencer in zone 6a in ZIP code 47460, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Spencer's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Indiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00128290; 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 Spencer?
In a normal year in Spencer, 18 days a year reach 90°F, 129 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 126 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 18a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 129a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 126a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1949) is 107°F, on July 19, 1954; the lowest is −33°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 59.47 in; the snowiest season is 2013–14, with 37.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00128290; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00128290. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Spencer?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Spencer, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 61% | 1.8 |
| February | 63% | 2.6 |
| March | 66% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 73% | 3.2 |
| November | 69% | 2.2 |
| December | 59% | 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 Spencer need?
A normal year in Spencer brings 5,407 heating degree days, 1% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 987 cooling degree days, 9% 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 3,477 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,125 | 0 |
| February | 920 | 0 |
| March | 732 | 2 |
| April | 386 | 11 |
| May | 149 | 71 |
| June | 22 | 206 |
| July | 2 | 303 |
| August | 5 | 259 |
| September | 75 | 116 |
| October | 343 | 18 |
| November | 671 | 1 |
| December | 978 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,407 | 987 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00128290. 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 Spencer been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 55.0°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.8°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.0°F | +1.2°F | 55.04 | 21.6 |
| 2022 | 52.5°F | −0.3°F | 40.84 | 10.5 |
| 2023 | 55.0°F | +2.2°F | 43.33 | 2.3 |
Over 53 complete years from 1950 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.8°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00128290; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Spencer's climate compare?
Spencer is warmer than 62 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Indiana, and wetter than 84. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.8°F is warmer than 53%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Spencer 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 Spencer 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.
- Gosport, IN858 people · 7 mi NE
- Patricksburg, IN290 people · 10 mi W
- Bowling Green, IN289 people · 14 mi NW
- Stinesville, IN202 people · 7 mi E
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 Spencer's climate
What is the coldest month in Spencer?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Spencer?
Yes: 16 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Spencer?
June, with 5.82 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.64 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Spencer in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Spencer in zone 6a in ZIP code 47460, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Spencer's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Spencer?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Indiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bloomington, IN13 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Martinsville, IN19 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Greencastle, IN25 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Shakamak State Park, IN27 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made