Tell City, Indiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tell City's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 51.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.2°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,303 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTell City
- Station IDUSC00128698
- Location37.95°N 86.77°W
- Elevation390 ft (119 m)
- Population7,515
On October 23, the normal high in Tell City is 65°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tell City.
- Jan 41° 26°
- Feb 45° 28°
- Mar 54° 36°
- Apr 66° 45°
- May 74° 55°
- Jun 82° 64°
- Jul 85° 67°
- Aug 85° 66°
- Sep 79° 58°
- Oct 68° 47°
- Nov 55° 37°
- Dec 44° 30°
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 Tell City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.82 in), the least in August (3.01 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 26°F | 33.1°F | 3.70 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 45°F | 28°F | 36.5°F | 3.49 | 8 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 36°F | 44.9°F | 4.74 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 45°F | 55.3°F | 5.30 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 55°F | 64.6°F | 5.82 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 82°F | 64°F | 72.9°F | 5.05 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 85°F | 67°F | 76.3°F | 4.12 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 66°F | 75.2°F | 3.01 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 58°F | 68.8°F | 3.71 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 47°F | 57.6°F | 3.93 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 37°F | 46.0°F | 3.93 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 30°F | 37.3°F | 4.48 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 47°F | 55.7°F | 51.28 | 108 | 28 | 77 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −3°C | 0.6°C | 94 mm |
| February | 7°C | −2°C | 2.5°C | 89 mm |
| March | 12°C | 2°C | 7.2°C | 120 mm |
| April | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 135 mm |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 18.1°C | 148 mm |
| June | 28°C | 18°C | 22.7°C | 128 mm |
| July | 30°C | 20°C | 24.6°C | 105 mm |
| August | 29°C | 19°C | 24.0°C | 76 mm |
| September | 26°C | 15°C | 20.4°C | 94 mm |
| October | 20°C | 8°C | 14.2°C | 100 mm |
| November | 13°C | 3°C | 7.8°C | 100 mm |
| December | 7°C | −1°C | 2.9°C | 114 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Cannelton (5 miles away), gets 11 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00128698; 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 Tell City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, 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 USC00128698.
When is the last frost in Tell City?
In Tell City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 1 in half of years and before October 18 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 51 year in 10 after April 23; 9 in 10 after March 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 11 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 234 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 24 in half of springs and before November 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tell City in zone 7a in ZIP code 47520, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tell City's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (29 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 Indiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00128698; 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 Tell City?
In a normal year in Tell City, 28 days a year reach 90°F, 77 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 108 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 77a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 13high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 108a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 106°F, on September 7, 1954; the lowest is −17°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1950, with 73.85 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 30.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00128698; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00128698. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tell City?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tell City, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 2.0 |
| February | 62% | 2.7 |
| March | 66% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 5.7 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 72% | 2.5 |
| December | 62% | 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 Tell City need?
A normal year in Tell City brings 4,572 heating degree days, 15% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,215 cooling degree days, 34% more than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,947 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 987 | 0 |
| February | 799 | 0 |
| March | 627 | 2 |
| April | 309 | 18 |
| May | 104 | 93 |
| June | 10 | 247 |
| July | 0 | 351 |
| August | 1 | 318 |
| September | 43 | 157 |
| October | 260 | 29 |
| November | 571 | 1 |
| December | 860 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,572 | 1,215 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00128698. 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 Tell City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 56.2°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56.3°F | +0.6°F | – |
| 2022 | 55.4°F | −0.3°F | 48.64 |
| 2023 | 57.3°F | +1.6°F | 50.78 |
| 2024 | 58.0°F | +2.3°F | 54.56 |
| 2025 | 56.2°F | +0.5°F | 60.15 |
Over 78 complete years from 1940 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00128698; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tell City's climate compare?
Tell City is warmer than 86 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Indiana, and wetter than 90. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.7°F is warmer than 63%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tell City is Cfa: temperate, 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 Tell City share this climate record?
8 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.
- Thruston, KY2,675 people · 17 mi SW
- Lewisport, KY1,743 people · 7 mi W
- Philpot, KY1,098 people · 19 mi SW
- Grandview, IN705 people · 11 mi W
- Maceo, KY533 people · 14 mi SW
- Yelvington, KY511 people · 13 mi SW
- Troy, IN367 people · 4 mi N
- Newtonville, IN151 people · 10 mi W
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 Tell City's climate
What is the coldest month in Tell City?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Tell City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Tell City's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Cannelton (5 miles away), records 11 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Tell City?
May, with 5.82 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tell City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tell City in zone 7a in ZIP code 47520, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tell City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 7°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Tell City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 23. Waiting until April 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Indiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cannelton, IN5 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- St. Meinrad, IN15 miles from this station, 57.0°F a year
- Rough River Lake, KY27 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Boonville, IN28 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made