Tribune, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tribune's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 18.4 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 33°C, 468 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTribune (1 mi W)
- Station IDUSC00148235
- Location38.47°N 101.77°W
- Elevation3,634 ft (1,108 m)
- Population691
On October 23, the normal high in Tribune is 65°F and the normal low 34°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 Tribune.
- Jan 44° 16°
- Feb 47° 19°
- Mar 57° 27°
- Apr 65° 35°
- May 75° 46°
- Jun 86° 57°
- Jul 91° 62°
- Aug 88° 60°
- Sep 81° 51°
- Oct 68° 37°
- Nov 55° 26°
- Dec 45° 17°
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 Tribune each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.14 in), the least in January (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 16°F | 30.2°F | 0.43 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 19°F | 33.0°F | 0.54 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 27°F | 41.7°F | 0.99 | 3.6 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 35°F | 49.8°F | 1.66 | 2.1 | 6 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 46°F | 60.3°F | 2.23 | 0.3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 86°F | 57°F | 71.4°F | 2.77 | 0.0 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 91°F | 62°F | 76.5°F | 3.14 | 0.0 | 8 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 88°F | 60°F | 74.0°F | 2.87 | 0.0 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 81°F | 51°F | 66.1°F | 1.13 | 0.1 | 5 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 37°F | 52.5°F | 1.59 | 1.3 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 26°F | 40.2°F | 0.53 | 2.1 | 3 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 17°F | 31.0°F | 0.56 | 3.8 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 38°F | 52.2°F | 18.44 | 21.7 | 65 | 65 | 160 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −9°C | −1.0°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 8°C | −7°C | 0.6°C | 14 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 14°C | −3°C | 5.4°C | 25 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 18°C | 1°C | 9.9°C | 42 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 24°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 57 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 30°C | 14°C | 21.9°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 24.7°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 15°C | 23.3°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 10°C | 18.9°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 3°C | 11.4°C | 40 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 13°C | −4°C | 4.6°C | 13 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 7°C | −8°C | −0.6°C | 14 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00148235; 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 Tribune?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, 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 USC00148235.
When is the last frost in Tribune?
In Tribune, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 11 in half of years and before September 30 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
- May 21 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 111 year in 10 before September 30; 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 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tribune in zone 6a in ZIP code 67879, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tribune's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°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 USC00148235; 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 Tribune?
In a normal year in Tribune, 65 days a year reach 90°F (12 of them 100°F or more), 160 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 65 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 65a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 160a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 65a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 112°F, on July 28, 2026; the lowest is −25°F, on January 18, 1984.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1958, with 30.06 in; the snowiest season is 1923–24, with 63.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00148235; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00148235. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tribune?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tribune, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (90%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.6 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 79% | 4.8 |
| April | 79% | 5.8 |
| May | 81% | 6.7 |
| June | 87% | 7.4 |
| July | 90% | 7.3 |
| August | 88% | 6.4 |
| September | 86% | 5.3 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 82% | 2.9 |
| December | 78% | 2.3 |
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 Tribune need?
A normal year in Tribune brings 5,679 heating degree days, 6% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,051 cooling degree days, 16% 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 3,391 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,080 | 0 |
| February | 897 | 0 |
| March | 723 | 0 |
| April | 461 | 3 |
| May | 195 | 50 |
| June | 27 | 219 |
| July | 3 | 361 |
| August | 7 | 286 |
| September | 88 | 121 |
| October | 397 | 10 |
| November | 746 | 0 |
| December | 1,054 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,679 | 1,051 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00148235. 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 Tribune been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 52.4°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.2°F. 1 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.9°F | −0.3°F | 22.12 | 16.7 |
| 2022 | 51.2°F | −1.0°F | 14.49 | 24.7 |
| 2023 | 50.3°F | −1.9°F | 20.70 | 21.5 |
| 2024 | 52.4°F | +0.2°F | 20.81 | 12.8 |
Over 82 complete years from 1913 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.5°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00148235; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tribune's climate compare?
Tribune is warmer than 13 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 7. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.2°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tribune 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.
Which places near Tribune 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.
- Greeley County, KS370 people · 2 mi NW
- Horace, KS91 people · 1 mi NW
- Towner, CO23 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 Tribune's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Tribune. This page uses Tribune (1 mi W); the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tribune (13 mi NNE) USC00148240 | 14 mi N | 3,618 ft | 52.6°F | 16°F | 92°F | 17.6 | – | May 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Tribune's climate
What is the coldest month in Tribune?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Tribune?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 12 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tribune?
July, with 3.14 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tribune in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tribune in zone 6a in ZIP code 67879, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tribune's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Tribune?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Leoti, KS22 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Arapahoe (12 mi S), CO26 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Sheridan Lake, CO29 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Sharon Springs, KS30 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made