Tuscola, Illinois climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tuscola's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 40.5 inches of precipitation and 17 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,030 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTuscola
- Station IDUSC00118684
- Location39.79°N 88.29°W
- Elevation651 ft (198 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population4,658
On October 23, the normal high in Tuscola is 63°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tuscola.
- Jan 34° 18°
- Feb 39° 21°
- Mar 50° 31°
- Apr 64° 42°
- May 74° 53°
- Jun 82° 63°
- Jul 85° 65°
- Aug 84° 63°
- Sep 79° 55°
- Oct 66° 43°
- Nov 51° 32°
- Dec 39° 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 Tuscola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.84 in), the least in February (2.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 18°F | 26.0°F | 2.44 | 5.0 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 39°F | 21°F | 30.0°F | 2.07 | 4.9 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 31°F | 40.5°F | 2.87 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 42°F | 52.5°F | 4.52 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 53°F | 63.6°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 63°F | 72.6°F | 4.84 | 0.0 | 10 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 85°F | 65°F | 75.1°F | 4.38 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 84°F | 63°F | 73.5°F | 2.97 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 55°F | 66.9°F | 3.07 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 43°F | 54.8°F | 3.25 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 32°F | 41.8°F | 3.37 | 0.9 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 24°F | 31.4°F | 2.53 | 3.7 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 43°F | 52.4°F | 40.55 | 16.9 | 109 | 27 | 117 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −8°C | −3.3°C | 62 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 4°C | −6°C | −1.1°C | 53 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 10°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 73 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 115 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 23°C | 12°C | 17.6°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 19°C | 23.9°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.7°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 11°C | 0°C | 5.4°C | 86 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.3°C | 64 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00118684; 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 Tuscola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, August 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 USC00118684.
When is the last frost in Tuscola?
In Tuscola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 15 in half of years and after May 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 7 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 151 year in 10 after May 1; 9 in 10 after April 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 188 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 210 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 3 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tuscola in zone 6a in ZIP code 61953, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tuscola's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Illinois · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00118684; 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 Tuscola?
In a normal year in Tuscola, 27 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 117 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 109 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 117a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 32high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 109a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 113°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −26°F, on December 22, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 55.20 in; the snowiest season is 1973–74, with 48.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00118684; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00118684. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tuscola?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tuscola, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 1.9 |
| February | 65% | 2.7 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.5 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 83% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.6 |
| September | 81% | 4.7 |
| October | 74% | 3.3 |
| November | 70% | 2.3 |
| December | 61% | 1.6 |
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 Tuscola need?
A normal year in Tuscola brings 5,635 heating degree days, 5% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,076 cooling degree days, 19% 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 3,578 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,209 | 0 |
| February | 981 | 0 |
| March | 763 | 2 |
| April | 385 | 10 |
| May | 134 | 91 |
| June | 14 | 241 |
| July | 1 | 316 |
| August | 5 | 268 |
| September | 68 | 126 |
| October | 337 | 21 |
| November | 697 | 1 |
| December | 1,041 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,635 | 1,076 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00118684. 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 Tuscola been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.0°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.7°F | +2.3°F | 45.25 | 20.4 |
| 2022 | 51.8°F | −0.6°F | 32.31 | 15.2 |
| 2023 | 54.5°F | +2.1°F | 36.99 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 54.9°F | +2.5°F | 38.75 | 9.9 |
| 2025 | 53.0°F | +0.6°F | 30.33 | 34.1 |
Over 72 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00118684; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tuscola's climate compare?
Tuscola is warmer than 82 of the other 143 places with their own NOAA record in Illinois, and wetter than 85. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.4°F is warmer than 51%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tuscola 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 Tuscola share this climate record?
9 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.
- Arcola, IL2,915 people · 8 mi S
- Villa Grove, IL2,450 people · 8 mi NE
- Arthur, IL2,269 people · 11 mi SW
- Atwood, IL1,097 people · 9 mi W
- Pesotum, IL553 people · 8 mi N
- Camargo, IL452 people · 7 mi E
- Hindsboro, IL273 people · 11 mi SE
- Garrett, IL129 people · 7 mi W
- Longview, IL112 people · 13 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 Tuscola's climate
What is the coldest month in Tuscola?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Tuscola?
Yes: 17 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tuscola?
June, with 4.84 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tuscola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tuscola in zone 6a in ZIP code 61953, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tuscola's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Tuscola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 1. Waiting until May 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Illinois climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Champaign, IL17 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Mattoon, IL22 miles from this station, 53.4°F a year
- Charleston, IL23 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Sullivan, IL24 miles from this station, 53.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made