St. Francis, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
St. Francis's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 17.6 inches of precipitation and 20 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.1°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 33°C, 446 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSaint Francis
- Station IDUSC00147093
- Location39.77°N 101.81°W
- Elevation3,336 ft (1,017 m)
- Population1,282
On October 14, the normal high in St. Francis is 69°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for St. Francis.
- Jan 43° 15°
- Feb 46° 18°
- Mar 57° 26°
- Apr 65° 35°
- May 74° 46°
- Jun 86° 57°
- Jul 92° 63°
- Aug 89° 60°
- Sep 82° 50°
- Oct 68° 36°
- Nov 55° 24°
- Dec 45° 16°
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 St. Francis each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.92 in), the least in January (0.38 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 15°F | 29.4°F | 0.38 | 4.6 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 18°F | 31.8°F | 0.44 | 4.5 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 26°F | 41.4°F | 0.72 | 2.9 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 35°F | 49.6°F | 1.63 | 1.7 | 6 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 46°F | 60.0°F | 2.43 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 57°F | 71.6°F | 2.42 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 92°F | 63°F | 77.1°F | 2.89 | 0.0 | 8 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 60°F | 74.8°F | 2.92 | 0.0 | 7 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 82°F | 50°F | 65.9°F | 1.49 | 0.3 | 4 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 36°F | 51.9°F | 1.29 | 0.9 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 24°F | 39.4°F | 0.50 | 2.0 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 45°F | 16°F | 30.4°F | 0.45 | 2.9 | 2 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 37°F | 52.0°F | 17.56 | 19.8 | 60 | 61 | 162 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −9°C | −1.4°C | 10 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8°C | −8°C | −0.1°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 14°C | −3°C | 5.2°C | 18 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 9.8°C | 41 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 8°C | 15.6°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 14°C | 22.0°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 25.1°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 16°C | 23.8°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 10°C | 18.8°C | 38 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 11.1°C | 33 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 13°C | −4°C | 4.1°C | 13 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 7°C | −9°C | −0.9°C | 11 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00147093; 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 St. Francis?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00147093.
When is the last frost in St. Francis?
In St. Francis, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 27 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 301 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 160 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts St. Francis in zone 6a in ZIP code 67756, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, St. Francis's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (23 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 Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00147093; 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 St. Francis?
In a normal year in St. Francis, 61 days a year reach 90°F (12 of them 100°F or more), 162 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 60 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 61a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 162a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 23high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 60a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1908) is 111°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −31°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1923, with 33.20 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 74.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00147093; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00147093. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is St. Francis?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around St. Francis, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.5 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 78% | 4.6 |
| April | 77% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.5 |
| June | 86% | 7.3 |
| July | 89% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 3.8 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 77% | 2.2 |
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 St. Francis need?
A normal year in St. Francis brings 5,817 heating degree days, 8% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,097 cooling degree days, 21% 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 3,401 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,105 | 0 |
| February | 928 | 0 |
| March | 732 | 0 |
| April | 463 | 2 |
| May | 206 | 51 |
| June | 26 | 226 |
| July | 3 | 379 |
| August | 7 | 311 |
| September | 93 | 120 |
| October | 414 | 8 |
| November | 767 | 0 |
| December | 1,074 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,817 | 1,097 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00147093. 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 St. Francis been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.2°F, 3.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.0°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.0°F | +1.0°F | 14.96 | 16.0 |
| 2025 | 55.2°F | +3.2°F | 19.11 | 11.0 |
Over 90 complete years from 1910 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00147093; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does St. Francis's climate compare?
St. Francis is warmer than 9 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 1. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.0°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, St. Francis is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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.
Questions about St. Francis's climate
What is the coldest month in St. Francis?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in St. Francis?
Yes: 20 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in St. Francis?
August, with 2.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.38 in.
What plant hardiness zone is St. Francis in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts St. Francis in zone 6a in ZIP code 67756, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at St. Francis's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in St. Francis?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bonny Dam (2 mi NE), CO18 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Haigler, NE19 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- McDonald, KS23 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Benkelman, NE25 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made