Topeka, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Topeka's normal year runs from 20°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 36.5 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.2°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 32°C, 928 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTopeka Asos
- Station IDUSW00013996
- Location39.07°N 95.63°W
- Elevation876 ft (267 m)
- From the center5 miles
- Population125,467
On October 23, the normal high in Topeka is 66°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Topeka.
- Jan 40° 20°
- Feb 46° 24°
- Mar 57° 34°
- Apr 67° 44°
- May 76° 55°
- Jun 86° 65°
- Jul 90° 69°
- Aug 89° 67°
- Sep 81° 58°
- Oct 69° 45°
- Nov 55° 33°
- Dec 44° 24°
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 Topeka each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in May (5.17 in), the least in January (0.89 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 | 40°F | 20°F | 30.2°F | 0.89 | 4.6 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 24°F | 34.9°F | 1.31 | 5.2 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 34°F | 45.6°F | 2.25 | 1.7 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 44°F | 55.5°F | 3.81 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 76°F | 55°F | 65.7°F | 5.17 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 65°F | 75.5°F | 4.92 | 0.0 | 11 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 90°F | 69°F | 79.8°F | 3.99 | 0.0 | 9 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 67°F | 77.9°F | 4.55 | 0.0 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 58°F | 69.2°F | 3.52 | 0.0 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 45°F | 57.0°F | 2.85 | 0.4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 1.78 | 1.0 | 6 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 24°F | 33.9°F | 1.49 | 4.1 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 45°F | 55.8°F | 36.53 | 17.1 | 98 | 50 | 114 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −7°C | −1.0°C | 23 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8°C | −4°C | 1.6°C | 33 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 14°C | 1°C | 7.6°C | 57 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 25°C | 13°C | 18.7°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 24.2°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 21°C | 26.6°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 13.9°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 45 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 7°C | −4°C | 1.1°C | 38 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013996; 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 Topeka?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00013996.
When is the last frost in Topeka?
In Topeka, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 12 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 8 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 121 year in 10 after April 27; 9 in 10 after March 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 8; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 191 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 212 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 31 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Topeka in zone 6b across its 13 ZIP code areas (6b in 66614, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Topeka's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013996; 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 Topeka ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Topeka's 13 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6b. 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 Topeka?
In a normal year in Topeka, 50 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 114 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 98 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 50a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 114a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 98a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in Topeka's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1887) is 114°F, on July 24, 1936; the lowest is −26°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 60.89 in; the snowiest season is 1911–12, with 47.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013996; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record TOPthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Topeka, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 66°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 67°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in December (21°F). March is the windiest month (9.8 mph on average), and June has the most clear or nearly clear hours (79%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F | 67% | 49% | 7.7 mph | 62% | 30% |
| February | 26°F | 62% | 43% | 9.1 mph | 62% | 30% |
| March | 37°F | 61% | 44% | 9.8 mph | 61% | 28% |
| April | 47°F | 65% | 48% | 8.8 mph | 58% | 29% |
| May | 60°F | 69% | 51% | 7.6 mph | 69% | 17% |
| June | 66°F | 68% | 50% | 7.3 mph | 79% | 8% |
| July | 67°F | 68% | 49% | 6.1 mph | 79% | 9% |
| August | 64°F | 70% | 49% | 6.1 mph | 78% | 11% |
| September | 51°F | 67% | 43% | 6.9 mph | 78% | 14% |
| October | 38°F | 65% | 45% | 7.8 mph | 67% | 26% |
| November | 28°F | 67% | 48% | 7.9 mph | 68% | 26% |
| December | 21°F | 69% | 52% | 7.8 mph | 64% | 30% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013996. 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 Topeka?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Topeka, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and March the cloudiest (70%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 243rd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.2 |
| February | 72% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 5.8 |
| June | 81% | 6.6 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.8 |
| October | 77% | 3.5 |
| November | 76% | 2.5 |
| December | 72% | 1.9 |
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 Topeka need?
A normal year in Topeka brings 4,860 heating degree days, 10% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,535 cooling degree days, 69% 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 4,244 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,079 | 0 |
| February | 841 | 0 |
| March | 606 | 5 |
| April | 309 | 22 |
| May | 96 | 117 |
| June | 5 | 320 |
| July | 0 | 457 |
| August | 1 | 399 |
| September | 51 | 179 |
| October | 281 | 33 |
| November | 627 | 2 |
| December | 964 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,860 | 1,535 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013996. 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 Topeka been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.6°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 55.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57.0°F | +1.3°F | 36.64 | 14.9 |
| 2022 | 56.3°F | +0.5°F | 32.23 | 23.2 |
| 2023 | 58.4°F | +2.6°F | 27.33 | 12.5 |
| 2024 | 58.8°F | +3.0°F | 34.27 | 12.6 |
| 2025 | 55.6°F | −0.1°F | 31.30 | 30.5 |
Over 76 complete years from 1948 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.8°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013996; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Topeka's climate compare?
Topeka is warmer than 96 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 94. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.8°F is warmer than 63%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Topeka 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 Topeka 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.
- Silver Lake, KS1,312 people · 12 mi W
- Auburn, KS1,272 people · 15 mi SW
- Rossville, KS1,090 people · 18 mi W
- Meriden, KS719 people · 9 mi N
- Tecumseh, KS339 people · 4 mi SE
- Wakarusa, KS207 people · 13 mi S
- Grantville, KS130 people · 4 mi E
- Willard, KS68 people · 17 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.
What do Topeka's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Topeka. This page uses Topeka Asos; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka - NWS USC00148171 | 4 mi NE | 880 ft | 54.9°F | 19°F | 89°F | 37.3 | – | April 16 |
| Topeka Forbes Field USW00013920 | 6 mi S | 1,067 ft | 55.4°F | 19°F | 91°F | 36.7 | – | April 15 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Topeka's climate
What is the coldest month in Topeka?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Topeka?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (5.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Topeka?
May, with 5.17 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.89 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Topeka in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Topeka in zone 6b across its 13 ZIP code areas (6b in 66614, the largest). By the same method at Topeka's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Topeka?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 12; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Topeka in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Perry, KS12 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Valley Falls, KS17 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Clinton Lake, KS18 miles from this station, 54.2°F a year
- Oskaloosa, KS22 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made