Springfield, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Springfield's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 38.0 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.2°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 966 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSpringfield Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
- Station IDUSW00093822
- Location39.84°N 89.68°W
- Elevation594 ft (181 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population112,949
On October 23, the normal high in Springfield is 64°F and the normal low 42°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 Springfield.
- Jan 36° 20°
- Feb 41° 24°
- Mar 53° 33°
- Apr 66° 43°
- May 76° 54°
- Jun 84° 63°
- Jul 87° 66°
- Aug 85° 64°
- Sep 80° 56°
- Oct 67° 45°
- Nov 53° 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 Springfield each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.61 in), the least in February (1.93 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 20°F | 27.9°F | 2.03 | 6.7 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 41°F | 24°F | 32.4°F | 1.93 | 6.1 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 33°F | 43.2°F | 2.76 | 3.1 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 43°F | 54.4°F | 3.97 | 0.3 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 54°F | 65.1°F | 4.52 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 63°F | 73.7°F | 4.61 | 0.0 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 66°F | 76.5°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 64°F | 74.9°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 56°F | 68.0°F | 2.88 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 45°F | 56.0°F | 3.26 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 34°F | 43.5°F | 2.71 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 10 h |
| December | 41°F | 25°F | 32.9°F | 2.15 | 4.3 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 44°F | 54.0°F | 38.04 | 21.8 | 115 | 28 | 111 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −7°C | −2.3°C | 52 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 5°C | −5°C | 0.2°C | 49 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 12°C | 1°C | 6.2°C | 70 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.4°C | 101 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 19°C | 24.7°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 13°C | 20.0°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 7°C | 13.3°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 12°C | 1°C | 6.4°C | 69 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 5°C | −4°C | 0.5°C | 55 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093822; 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 Springfield?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, 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 USW00093822.
When is the last frost in Springfield?
In Springfield, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 14 in half of years and after April 29 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 141 year in 10 after April 29; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 187 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 209 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 3 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Springfield in zone 6a across its 7 ZIP code areas (6a in 62703, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Springfield's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093822; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Springfield ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Springfield's 7 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Springfield?
In a normal year in Springfield, 28 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 111 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 111a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 30high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in Springfield's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1879) is 112°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −24°F, on February 13, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1882, with 58.21 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 52.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093822; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record SPIthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Springfield, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 65°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 66°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (21°F). March is the windiest month (11.3 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (75%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21°F | 73% | 62% | 10.3 mph | 54% | 36% |
| February | 27°F | 70% | 56% | 11.0 mph | 52% | 38% |
| March | 36°F | 63% | 48% | 11.3 mph | 57% | 30% |
| April | 46°F | 65% | 49% | 10.3 mph | 57% | 27% |
| May | 58°F | 68% | 50% | 8.5 mph | 63% | 19% |
| June | 65°F | 71% | 54% | 7.0 mph | 72% | 10% |
| July | 66°F | 74% | 56% | 5.9 mph | 75% | 10% |
| August | 63°F | 72% | 51% | 6.4 mph | 74% | 12% |
| September | 50°F | 67% | 43% | 7.5 mph | 74% | 14% |
| October | 39°F | 68% | 51% | 9.7 mph | 60% | 31% |
| November | 30°F | 73% | 61% | 10.4 mph | 55% | 36% |
| December | 23°F | 75% | 66% | 10.4 mph | 52% | 41% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093822. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Springfield?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Springfield, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (63%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 304th (with 25 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.9 |
| February | 66% | 2.8 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.6 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 83% | 6.4 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 74% | 3.3 |
| November | 71% | 2.3 |
| December | 63% | 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 Springfield need?
A normal year in Springfield brings 5,215 heating degree days, 3% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,252 cooling degree days, 38% 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 3,874 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,150 | 0 |
| February | 913 | 0 |
| March | 681 | 3 |
| April | 336 | 19 |
| May | 111 | 112 |
| June | 11 | 270 |
| July | 1 | 357 |
| August | 3 | 308 |
| September | 61 | 151 |
| October | 310 | 30 |
| November | 648 | 1 |
| December | 993 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,215 | 1,252 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093822. 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 Springfield been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.5°F, 0.5°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 54.0°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.6°F | +0.6°F | 46.98 | 20.7 |
| 2022 | 52.9°F | −1.1°F | 39.81 | 25.1 |
| 2023 | 55.6°F | +1.6°F | 34.05 | 6.8 |
| 2025 | 53.5°F | −0.5°F | 26.86 | 26.0 |
Over 118 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093822; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Springfield's climate compare?
Springfield is warmer than 107 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 33. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.0°F is warmer than 57%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Springfield 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 Springfield share this climate record?
15 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.
- Chatham, IL14,639 people · 12 mi S
- Sherman, IL4,634 people · 5 mi NE
- Rochester, IL4,044 people · 11 mi SE
- Riverton, IL3,489 people · 8 mi E
- Jerome, IL1,646 people · 5 mi S
- Southern View, IL1,551 people · 6 mi S
- Williamsville, IL1,441 people · 11 mi NE
- Leland Grove, IL1,409 people · 5 mi S
- Grandview, IL1,387 people · 4 mi SE
- New Berlin, IL1,359 people · 15 mi SW
- Spaulding, IL790 people · 8 mi E
- Mechanicsburg, IL662 people · 15 mi E
- Dawson, IL511 people · 12 mi E
- Buffalo, IL436 people · 15 mi E
- Curran, IL210 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.
What do Springfield's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Springfield. This page uses Springfield Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield #2 USC00118186 | 2 mi W | 599 ft | 52.9°F | 19°F | 86°F | 40.5 | – | April 15 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Springfield's climate
What is the coldest month in Springfield?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Springfield?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Springfield?
June, with 4.61 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.93 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Springfield in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Springfield in zone 6a across its 7 ZIP code areas (6a in 62703, the largest). By the same method at Springfield's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Springfield?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 14; in one year in ten it comes after April 29. Waiting until April 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Springfield in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Athens, IL8 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Petersburg, IL14 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Mason City, IL22 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Virden, IL24 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made