West Lafayette, Indiana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
West Lafayette's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 39.7 inches of precipitation and 19 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,008 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWest Lafayette (6 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00129430
- Location40.48°N 86.99°W
- Elevation708 ft (216 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population46,338
On October 14, the normal high in West Lafayette is 66°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for West Lafayette.
- Jan 32° 16°
- Feb 37° 20°
- Mar 48° 29°
- Apr 61° 39°
- May 72° 51°
- Jun 81° 60°
- Jul 83° 63°
- Aug 82° 60°
- Sep 77° 52°
- Oct 65° 41°
- Nov 50° 32°
- Dec 37° 22°
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 West Lafayette each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.85 in), the least in February (1.93 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 | 32°F | 16°F | 24.4°F | 2.21 | 5.9 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 37°F | 20°F | 28.1°F | 1.93 | 5.2 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 48°F | 29°F | 38.4°F | 2.59 | 2.3 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 39°F | 50.2°F | 4.00 | 0.4 | 12 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 51°F | 61.5°F | 4.70 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 60°F | 70.6°F | 4.85 | 0.0 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 83°F | 63°F | 72.8°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 82°F | 60°F | 70.9°F | 3.66 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 52°F | 64.6°F | 3.12 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 41°F | 53.0°F | 3.03 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 32°F | 40.5°F | 3.02 | 0.9 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 22°F | 29.8°F | 2.35 | 4.2 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 40°F | 50.4°F | 39.70 | 18.9 | 121 | 17 | 129 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.2°C | 56 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.2°C | 49 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 66 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 102 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 22°C | 11°C | 16.4°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 16°C | 21.4°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.7°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 18.1°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | 0°C | 4.7°C | 77 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 3°C | −5°C | −1.2°C | 60 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00129430; 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 West Lafayette?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. 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 USC00129430.
When is the last frost in West Lafayette?
In West Lafayette, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 27 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 261 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 169 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 190 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts West Lafayette in zone 6a in ZIP code 47907. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, West Lafayette's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Indiana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00129430; 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 West Lafayette?
In a normal year in West Lafayette, 17 days a year reach 90°F, 129 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 121 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 129a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 121a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1901) is 111°F, on July 14, 1936; the lowest is −24°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1927, with 55.60 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 60.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00129430; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00129430. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is West Lafayette?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around West Lafayette, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 61% | 1.8 |
| February | 64% | 2.6 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 78% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 72% | 3.1 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 59% | 1.5 |
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 West Lafayette need?
A normal year in West Lafayette brings 6,111 heating degree days, 14% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 826 cooling degree days, 9% 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 3,154 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,260 | 0 |
| February | 1,032 | 0 |
| March | 825 | 2 |
| April | 451 | 9 |
| May | 178 | 71 |
| June | 27 | 194 |
| July | 7 | 247 |
| August | 14 | 196 |
| September | 104 | 92 |
| October | 388 | 15 |
| November | 734 | 1 |
| December | 1,091 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,111 | 826 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00129430. 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 West Lafayette been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 51.0°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.4°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.5°F | +2.1°F | – | – |
| 2022 | 51.0°F | +0.6°F | – | – |
Over 103 complete years from 1901 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00129430; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does West Lafayette's climate compare?
West Lafayette is warmer than 26 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Indiana, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.4°F is warmer than 42%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, West Lafayette 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 West Lafayette share this climate record?
5 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.
- Battle Ground, IN1,904 people · 8 mi E
- Otterbein, IN1,141 people · 5 mi W
- Green Hill, IN174 people · 8 mi SW
- Montmorenci, IN68 people · 2 mi W
- Templeton, IN10 people · 12 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.
Questions about West Lafayette's climate
What is the coldest month in West Lafayette?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in West Lafayette?
Yes: 19 inches in a normal year, falling on 14 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in West Lafayette?
June, with 4.85 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.93 in.
What plant hardiness zone is West Lafayette in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts West Lafayette in zone 6a in ZIP code 47907. By the same method at West Lafayette's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in West Lafayette?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Lafayette in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Indiana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lafayette, IN5 miles from this station, 51.3°F a year
- Chalmers, IN13 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Attica, IN17 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Delphi, IN20 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made