St. Paul, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
St. Paul's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 27.3 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.9°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 32°C, 694 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSaint Paul
- Station IDUSC00257515
- Location41.21°N 98.46°W
- Elevation1,812 ft (552 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,441
On October 14, the normal high in St. Paul is 68°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for St. Paul.
- Jan 35° 14°
- Feb 41° 18°
- Mar 54° 28°
- Apr 65° 38°
- May 74° 50°
- Jun 84° 60°
- Jul 89° 65°
- Aug 87° 63°
- Sep 80° 54°
- Oct 67° 40°
- Nov 50° 28°
- Dec 38° 18°
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. Paul each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.47 in), the least in January (0.55 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 14°F | 24.9°F | 0.55 | 4.7 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 41°F | 18°F | 29.4°F | 0.70 | 6.2 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 28°F | 41.1°F | 1.57 | 3.0 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 38°F | 51.6°F | 2.73 | 1.8 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 74°F | 50°F | 61.9°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 84°F | 60°F | 72.2°F | 4.01 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 89°F | 65°F | 76.9°F | 3.47 | 0.0 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 87°F | 63°F | 74.8°F | 3.47 | 0.0 | 8 | 11 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 54°F | 66.8°F | 2.13 | 0.0 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 40°F | 53.5°F | 2.18 | 0.4 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 28°F | 38.9°F | 1.18 | 2.2 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 38°F | 18°F | 28.1°F | 0.86 | 4.1 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 40°F | 51.7°F | 27.32 | 22.4 | 82 | 40 | 145 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −3.9°C | 14 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 5°C | −8°C | −1.4°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 5.1°C | 40 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 18°C | 3°C | 10.9°C | 69 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.3°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 18°C | 24.9°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 12°C | 19.3°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 55 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 10°C | −2°C | 3.8°C | 30 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 3°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 22 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00257515; 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. Paul?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00257515.
When is the last frost in St. Paul?
In St. Paul, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 23 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before September 28 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 231 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 192 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts St. Paul in zone 5b in ZIP code 68873, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, St. Paul's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (17 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00257515; 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. Paul?
In a normal year in St. Paul, 40 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 145 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 40a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 145a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 36high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1899) is 115°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −33°F, on January 27, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1905, with 42.20 in; the snowiest season is 2020–21, with 39.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00257515; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00257515. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is St. Paul?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around St. Paul, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.2 |
| February | 75% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.4 |
| November | 77% | 2.4 |
| December | 73% | 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 St. Paul need?
A normal year in St. Paul brings 5,955 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,129 cooling degree days, 24% 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 3,532 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,244 | 0 |
| February | 995 | 0 |
| March | 743 | 0 |
| April | 414 | 11 |
| May | 158 | 61 |
| June | 19 | 234 |
| July | 2 | 370 |
| August | 5 | 309 |
| September | 77 | 131 |
| October | 371 | 13 |
| November | 783 | 0 |
| December | 1,144 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,955 | 1,129 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00257515. 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.
How does St. Paul's climate compare?
St. Paul is warmer than 119 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 73. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.7°F is warmer than 48%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, St. Paul 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 St. Paul share this climate record?
5 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.
- Palmer, NE445 people · 11 mi E
- Dannebrog, NE273 people · 8 mi SW
- Elba, NE197 people · 8 mi NW
- Farwell, NE132 people · 9 mi W
- Cushing, NE36 people · 8 mi NE
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 St. Paul's climate
What is the coldest month in St. Paul?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in St. Paul?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in St. Paul?
May, with 4.47 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.55 in.
What plant hardiness zone is St. Paul in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts St. Paul in zone 5b in ZIP code 68873, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at St. Paul's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in St. Paul?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 23; 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
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Grand Island, NE19 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Central City, NE23 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Greeley, NE24 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- North Loup, NE25 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made