Surprise, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Surprise's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 28.3 inches of precipitation and 24 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.9°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 30°C, 719 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSurprise
- Station IDUSC00258328
- Location41.10°N 97.31°W
- Elevation1,545 ft (471 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population40
On October 23, the normal high in Surprise is 62°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 15%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Surprise.
- Jan 34° 12°
- Feb 39° 16°
- Mar 51° 26°
- Apr 62° 36°
- May 73° 48°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 86° 64°
- Aug 84° 61°
- Sep 78° 51°
- Oct 65° 38°
- Nov 51° 25°
- Dec 38° 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 Surprise each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.87 in), the least in January (0.58 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 12°F | 23.1°F | 0.58 | 5.8 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 39°F | 16°F | 27.2°F | 0.69 | 6.4 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 51°F | 26°F | 38.4°F | 1.45 | 3.6 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 36°F | 49.0°F | 2.85 | 1.5 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 48°F | 60.5°F | 4.87 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.6°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 64°F | 74.8°F | 3.25 | 0.0 | 7 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 61°F | 72.5°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 51°F | 64.4°F | 2.55 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 38°F | 51.7°F | 2.07 | 0.6 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 25°F | 38.0°F | 1.34 | 1.5 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 16°F | 27.0°F | 0.91 | 4.9 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 38°F | 49.8°F | 28.30 | 24.3 | 72 | 31 | 150 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −11°C | −4.9°C | 15 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 4°C | −9°C | −2.7°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 10°C | −3°C | 3.6°C | 37 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 17°C | 2°C | 9.4°C | 72 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.4°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.8°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 10°C | 18.0°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 3°C | 10.9°C | 53 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −4°C | 3.3°C | 34 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 3°C | −9°C | −2.8°C | 23 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00258328; 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 Surprise?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00258328.
When is the last frost in Surprise?
In Surprise, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 24 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 291 year in 10 after May 9; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 163 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 182 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Surprise in zone 5b in ZIP code 68667, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Surprise's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (27 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 USC00258328; 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 Surprise?
In a normal year in Surprise, 31 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 150 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 72 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 31a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 150a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 40high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 72a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1987) is 106°F, on June 22, 1988; the lowest is −34°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2008, with 36.11 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 48.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00258328; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00258328. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Surprise?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Surprise, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and March the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.2 |
| February | 76% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.7 |
| July | 84% | 6.7 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 77% | 3.3 |
| November | 77% | 2.4 |
| December | 72% | 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 Surprise need?
A normal year in Surprise brings 6,435 heating degree days, 20% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 918 cooling degree days, 1% 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 3,179 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,299 | 0 |
| February | 1,057 | 0 |
| March | 827 | 1 |
| April | 486 | 6 |
| May | 198 | 57 |
| June | 26 | 195 |
| July | 4 | 308 |
| August | 10 | 244 |
| September | 115 | 97 |
| October | 424 | 10 |
| November | 812 | 0 |
| December | 1,178 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,435 | 918 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00258328. 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 Surprise been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 51.5°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.8°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 49.1°F | −0.7°F | 20.44 | 6.4 |
| 2023 | 50.8°F | +1.0°F | 19.05 | 17.6 |
| 2024 | 51.5°F | +1.7°F | 30.93 | 13.9 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00258328. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Surprise's climate compare?
Surprise is warmer than 64 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 86. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.8°F is warmer than 39%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Surprise 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 Surprise share this climate record?
3 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.
- Rising City, NE360 people · 7 mi N
- Gresham, NE221 people · 7 mi SW
- Ulysses, NE190 people · 6 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 Surprise's climate
What is the coldest month in Surprise?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Surprise?
Yes: 24 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Surprise?
May, with 4.87 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.58 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Surprise in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Surprise in zone 5b in ZIP code 68667, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Surprise's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Surprise?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- David City, NE14 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Osceola, NE14 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Seward, NE18 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- York, NE22 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made