Wakefield, Nebraska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wakefield's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 30.7 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.1°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 780 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWakefield
- Station IDUSC00258915
- Location42.26°N 96.86°W
- Elevation1,408 ft (429 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,516
On October 24, the normal high in Wakefield is 61°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wakefield.
- Jan 32° 10°
- Feb 37° 14°
- Mar 50° 24°
- Apr 63° 34°
- May 73° 46°
- Jun 83° 57°
- Jul 86° 61°
- Aug 84° 59°
- Sep 78° 50°
- Oct 65° 37°
- Nov 48° 24°
- Dec 35° 14°
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 Wakefield each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.03 in), the least in January (0.74 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 10°F | 20.6°F | 0.74 | 6.9 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 37°F | 14°F | 25.3°F | 0.95 | 8.1 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 50°F | 24°F | 36.7°F | 1.67 | 5.6 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 34°F | 48.5°F | 3.33 | 2.8 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 46°F | 59.7°F | 4.12 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 57°F | 70.0°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 61°F | 73.4°F | 3.13 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 84°F | 59°F | 71.3°F | 3.72 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 78°F | 50°F | 63.9°F | 3.01 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 37°F | 51.1°F | 2.50 | 0.6 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 24°F | 35.9°F | 1.40 | 3.6 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 14°F | 24.3°F | 1.09 | 7.9 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 36°F | 48.4°F | 30.69 | 35.5 | 94 | 27 | 157 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −12°C | −6.3°C | 19 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 3°C | −10°C | −3.7°C | 24 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 10°C | −5°C | 2.6°C | 42 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 9.2°C | 85 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 14°C | 21.1°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 16°C | 23.0°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 15°C | 21.8°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 10°C | 17.7°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 3°C | 10.6°C | 64 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 9°C | −5°C | 2.2°C | 36 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 2°C | −10°C | −4.3°C | 28 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00258915; 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 Wakefield?
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 (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 USC00258915.
When is the last frost in Wakefield?
In Wakefield, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 17 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 51 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 17; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 148 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 166 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wakefield in zone 5a in ZIP code 68784, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wakefield's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (26 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 USC00258915; 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 Wakefield?
In a normal year in Wakefield, 27 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 157 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 94 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
- 157a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 94a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 115°F, on July 17, 1936; the lowest is −41°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 44.27 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 81.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00258915; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00258915. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wakefield?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wakefield, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.2 |
| December | 69% | 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 Wakefield need?
A normal year in Wakefield brings 6,824 heating degree days, 27% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 814 cooling degree days, 10% fewer 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 3,020 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,376 | 0 |
| February | 1,112 | 0 |
| March | 877 | 1 |
| April | 501 | 6 |
| May | 214 | 50 |
| June | 30 | 181 |
| July | 7 | 269 |
| August | 15 | 211 |
| September | 117 | 86 |
| October | 440 | 11 |
| November | 875 | 0 |
| December | 1,260 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,824 | 814 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00258915. 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 Wakefield been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.4°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.4°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.4°F | +1.0°F | 28.35 | 21.8 |
Over 103 complete years from 1898 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00258915; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wakefield's climate compare?
Wakefield is warmer than 34 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 105. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.4°F is warmer than 34%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wakefield 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 Wakefield share this climate record?
2 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.
- Emerson, NE813 people · 7 mi E
- Thurston, NE117 people · 10 mi SE
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 Wakefield's climate
What is the coldest month in Wakefield?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Wakefield?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wakefield?
June, with 5.03 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.74 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wakefield in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wakefield in zone 5a in ZIP code 68784, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wakefield's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Wakefield?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wayne, NE7 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Concord, NE11 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Walthill, NE21 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Sioux City, IA26 miles from this station, 48.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made