Washington, Kansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Washington's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 32.4 inches of precipitation and 14 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.6°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 823 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWashington
- Station IDUSC00148578
- Location39.81°N 97.06°W
- Elevation1,305 ft (398 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,075
On October 23, the normal high in Washington is 65°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Washington.
- Jan 37° 15°
- Feb 43° 18°
- Mar 55° 28°
- Apr 65° 39°
- May 75° 52°
- Jun 85° 62°
- Jul 90° 67°
- Aug 88° 64°
- Sep 81° 55°
- Oct 68° 41°
- Nov 53° 28°
- Dec 40° 19°
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 Washington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.74 in), the least in January (0.79 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 15°F | 26.1°F | 0.79 | 4.6 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 18°F | 30.5°F | 1.14 | 4.6 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 28°F | 41.5°F | 1.80 | 1.4 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 39°F | 52.1°F | 3.14 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 52°F | 63.3°F | 4.44 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 85°F | 62°F | 73.9°F | 4.74 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 90°F | 67°F | 78.8°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 88°F | 64°F | 76.0°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 55°F | 67.6°F | 3.07 | 0.0 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 41°F | 54.6°F | 2.18 | 0.1 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 28°F | 40.4°F | 1.49 | 1.0 | 5 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 19°F | 29.6°F | 1.23 | 2.4 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 41°F | 52.8°F | 32.41 | 14.4 | 86 | 55 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −9°C | −3.3°C | 20 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 6°C | −8°C | −0.8°C | 29 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 13°C | −2°C | 5.3°C | 46 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 18°C | 4°C | 11.2°C | 80 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 11°C | 17.4°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 26.0°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 18°C | 24.4°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.6°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.7°C | 38 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 5°C | −7°C | −1.3°C | 31 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00148578; 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 Washington?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, 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 USC00148578.
When is the last frost in Washington?
In Washington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 24 in half of years and after May 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before September 29 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 241 year in 10 after May 8; 9 in 10 after April 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 171 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 191 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Washington in zone 6a in ZIP code 66968, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Washington's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (28 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 USC00148578; 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 Washington?
In a normal year in Washington, 55 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 55a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 112°F, on July 12, 1954; the lowest is −29°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 53.24 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 65.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00148578; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00148578. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Washington?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Washington, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 73% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 84% | 6.9 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 83% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 3.6 |
| November | 79% | 2.6 |
| December | 74% | 2.0 |
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 Washington need?
A normal year in Washington brings 5,704 heating degree days, 6% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,314 cooling degree days, 45% 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 3,815 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,206 | 0 |
| February | 966 | 0 |
| March | 732 | 1 |
| April | 399 | 11 |
| May | 137 | 84 |
| June | 11 | 277 |
| July | 1 | 427 |
| August | 3 | 343 |
| September | 72 | 149 |
| October | 344 | 21 |
| November | 738 | 1 |
| December | 1,097 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,704 | 1,314 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00148578. 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 Washington been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.5°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.8°F | +1.0°F | 31.42 | 18.9 |
| 2022 | 51.9°F | −0.9°F | 32.92 | 11.9 |
| 2023 | 53.7°F | +0.9°F | 26.41 | 10.7 |
| 2024 | 54.7°F | +1.9°F | 34.18 | 7.3 |
| 2025 | 53.5°F | +0.8°F | 31.40 | 26.1 |
Over 67 complete years from 1953 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.3°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00148578; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Washington's climate compare?
Washington is warmer than 21 of the other 136 places with their own NOAA record in Kansas, and wetter than 70. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.8°F is warmer than 53%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Washington 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 Washington share this climate record?
6 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.
- Linn, KS389 people · 9 mi S
- Greenleaf, KS351 people · 7 mi SE
- Diller, NE266 people · 22 mi N
- Barnes, KS163 people · 12 mi SE
- Palmer, KS126 people · 13 mi S
- Steele City, NE50 people · 16 mi N
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 Washington's climate
What is the coldest month in Washington?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Washington?
Yes: 14 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Washington?
June, with 4.74 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.79 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Washington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Washington in zone 6a in ZIP code 66968, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Washington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Washington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 24; in one year in ten it comes after May 8. Waiting until May 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fairbury, NE19 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Marysville, KS22 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Clay Center, KS30 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Belleville, KS31 miles from this station, 52.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made