Iowa climate: Statewide normals, its places and each month, NOAA 1991-2020

Iowa's statewide normal is 48.3°F a year with 35.5 inches of precipitation (NOAA nClimDiv, 1991-2020); it has warmed 1.2°F per century since 1895, and 2012 was its warmest year.

Statewide normal temperature: 48.3°Fyear, 1991-2020
Statewide normal precipitation: 35.5 inyear, 1991-2020
Last five years against normal: +1.6°F2021-2025 mean 49.8°F
Places with normals: 150132 Census places, 18 other stations

What is Iowa's weather like each month?

Statewide, July is the warmest month and January the coldest. Each month has its own page with the warmest and coolest places that month:

Jan28°11°
Feb33°15°
Mar46°26°
Apr60°37°
May71°49°
Jun81°59°
Jul84°63°
Aug82°60°
Sep75°52°
Oct62°40°
Nov46°27°
Dec33°17°

Iowa statewide normals by month, 1991-2020 (NOAA nClimDiv)
Month	High	Low	Mean	Precip.
January	28°F	11°F	19.5°F	0.97
February	33°F	15°F	24.1°F	1.17
March	46°F	26°F	36.4°F	1.99
April	60°F	37°F	48.6°F	3.67
May	71°F	49°F	59.9°F	4.84
June	81°F	59°F	69.9°F	5.26
July	84°F	63°F	73.4°F	4.17
August	82°F	60°F	71.0°F	4.13
September	75°F	52°F	63.7°F	3.48
October	62°F	40°F	51.0°F	2.69
November	46°F	27°F	36.9°F	1.82
December	33°F	17°F	25.0°F	1.37

Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide series (Climate at a Glance); data files. Statewide values are area-weighted from a 5 km grid of station data, so they differ from the simple average of a state's stations.

Has Iowa been warmer than normal?

4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the 1991-2020 statewide normal of 48.3°F. The record since 1895 rises at a fitted 1.2°F per century; the warmest year was 2012 (52.1°F).

Iowa statewide mean temperature in recent years
Year	Mean	Against normal
2021	50.0°F	+1.7°F
2022	47.5°F	−0.8°F
2023	50.5°F	+2.2°F
2024	51.5°F	+3.2°F
2025	49.7°F	+1.4°F

Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide annual series.

Where is it warmest, wettest and snowiest in Iowa?

Among the places PlainClimate covers, Fort Madison has the warmest year (52.2°F) and Northwood the coolest (43.0°F); New Hampton is the wettest (40.6 in) and Spencer the driest (26.8 in), and Little Sioux gets the most snow (46 in).

Iowa: the places PlainClimate covers by their normal yearly mean temperature: from the coolest place (43.0°F a year, blue) to the warmest (52.2°F, red); each dot is a place's NOAA station.

Iowa: every place PlainClimate covers, with its NOAA 1991-2020 normals (largest first)
Place	Year	July high	January low	Precip.	Snow	Last frost
Des Moines	50.9°F	86°F	14°F	36.5	37	April 18
Cedar Rapids	48.2°F	83°F	11°F	35.9	–	April 27
Davenport	49.9°F	84°F	14°F	36.2	–	April 23
Sioux City	48.5°F	85°F	10°F	29.3	36	April 29
Ankeny	49.5°F	86°F	12°F	37.0	25	April 23
Iowa City	51.0°F	86°F	15°F	35.7	–	April 21
Ames	48.5°F	84°F	11°F	35.9	–	April 26
Waterloo	49.0°F	85°F	11°F	36.3	39	April 27
Dubuque	47.2°F	82°F	11°F	38.2	43	April 28
Marion	49.9°F	86°F	13°F	38.8	34	April 28
Marshalltown	47.7°F	83°F	10°F	32.8	–	April 30
Mason City	45.6°F	83°F	7°F	36.3	44	May 3
Ottumwa	50.7°F	86°F	14°F	37.0	24	April 23
Fort Dodge	46.5°F	83°F	7°F	35.1	39	April 28
Clinton	50.2°F	84°F	14°F	36.5	32	April 22
Burlington	51.9°F	85°F	16°F	37.9	–	April 15
Muscatine	50.5°F	85°F	13°F	40.0	24	April 24
Indianola	49.9°F	86°F	12°F	37.8	31	April 24
Newton	48.6°F	85°F	10°F	35.1	29	April 22
Boone	48.1°F	84°F	9°F	39.1	36	April 28
Storm Lake	47.1°F	82°F	9°F	33.8	–	April 25
Oskaloosa	50.1°F	86°F	12°F	38.7	–	April 21
Spencer	46.8°F	85°F	8°F	26.8	–	May 2
Le Mars	46.9°F	85°F	7°F	30.0	31	April 30
Carroll	48.3°F	84°F	10°F	33.7	–	April 27
Fort Madison	52.2°F	85°F	17°F	39.4	18	April 12
Fairfield	49.7°F	84°F	14°F	38.4	22	April 27
Grinnell	47.5°F	83°F	10°F	38.2	31	May 3
Keokuk	52.1°F	86°F	17°F	39.8	–	April 10
Sioux Center	48.0°F	85°F	9°F	29.9	35	April 30
Mount Pleasant	49.6°F	85°F	13°F	38.5	25	April 30
Denison	47.5°F	83°F	10°F	33.6	35	April 27
Perry	48.9°F	85°F	10°F	36.1	–	April 25
Webster City	46.1°F	83°F	7°F	37.2	33	May 3
Decorah	48.5°F	84°F	10°F	37.6	38	May 3
Knoxville	49.9°F	85°F	13°F	37.5	–	April 20
Creston	48.8°F	85°F	11°F	37.9	–	April 28
Washington	49.3°F	85°F	12°F	37.9	25	April 28
Charles City	46.5°F	82°F	9°F	37.7	38	April 30
Atlantic	49.3°F	86°F	10°F	37.1	27	April 30
Independence	47.0°F	83°F	8°F	37.4	34	April 30
Maquoketa	47.9°F	82°F	11°F	36.7	30	April 25
Anamosa	47.0°F	83°F	9°F	40.1	–	May 1
Estherville	44.6°F	81°F	7°F	29.3	–	May 2
Oelwein	46.3°F	82°F	7°F	–	–	April 30
Osceola	49.8°F	87°F	11°F	38.7	28	April 29
Sheldon	44.9°F	83°F	5°F	31.1	41	May 5
Spirit Lake	45.7°F	83°F	7°F	29.1	42	April 28
Winterset	48.1°F	84°F	10°F	34.8	31	April 30
Red Oak	50.8°F	86°F	13°F	37.2	27	April 24
Centerville	49.9°F	86°F	12°F	36.0	22	April 28
Algona	46.0°F	83°F	6°F	34.1	–	April 30
Clarinda	50.3°F	86°F	12°F	36.6	23	April 25
Manchester	46.3°F	82°F	8°F	38.6	35	May 3
Glenwood	50.9°F	87°F	12°F	34.8	24	April 23
Cherokee	46.7°F	84°F	7°F	31.2	38	May 4
Iowa Falls	46.7°F	83°F	8°F	38.1	28	April 28
Vinton	46.0°F	81°F	8°F	37.9	34	May 3
Harlan	49.5°F	86°F	10°F	34.3	31	April 27
Shenandoah	51.8°F	87°F	14°F	36.4	26	April 20
Le Claire	50.6°F	85°F	14°F	37.1	–	April 16
Humboldt	46.2°F	81°F	9°F	35.0	–	April 27
Hampton	46.6°F	83°F	8°F	38.1	–	April 29
Chariton	48.3°F	85°F	11°F	37.3	24	May 5
Forest City	44.9°F	81°F	6°F	35.9	–	April 30
Jefferson	47.8°F	83°F	9°F	35.3	32	April 26
Cresco	45.0°F	83°F	6°F	38.0	40	May 8
Waukon	45.4°F	81°F	8°F	39.2	–	May 2
Emmetsburg	47.3°F	85°F	7°F	33.6	37	April 27
Albia	50.0°F	84°F	13°F	36.5	30	April 24
Osage	45.3°F	81°F	6°F	37.6	40	April 30
New Hampton	44.7°F	81°F	6°F	40.6	39	May 2
Williamsburg	48.2°F	84°F	10°F	37.7	28	April 28
Milford	46.0°F	83°F	8°F	29.5	38	May 1
Tipton	49.3°F	84°F	12°F	36.5	–	April 21
Grundy Center	47.1°F	83°F	9°F	36.8	32	April 29
Onawa	48.5°F	86°F	9°F	29.9	31	May 1
Sibley	44.5°F	82°F	5°F	30.2	42	May 5
Bloomfield	51.2°F	86°F	15°F	39.1	24	April 16
Clarion	47.0°F	85°F	6°F	34.3	31	April 30
Rock Rapids	46.0°F	85°F	6°F	29.3	35	May 1
Hawarden	46.7°F	85°F	7°F	29.9	31	May 1
Eldora	46.9°F	84°F	8°F	37.9	33	April 27
Postville	46.0°F	83°F	7°F	38.9	40	May 1
Cascade	47.9°F	83°F	11°F	39.3	31	April 28
Toledo	47.3°F	83°F	9°F	35.3	33	April 30
Belle Plaine	48.2°F	84°F	10°F	36.0	28	April 28
Bellevue	48.7°F	85°F	12°F	37.8	32	April 25
Rockwell City	47.2°F	83°F	8°F	33.8	32	April 26
Lamoni	51.6°F	85°F	16°F	37.4	–	April 16
Northwood	43.0°F	79°F	4°F	35.5	40	May 4
Audubon	47.0°F	83°F	9°F	35.0	–	May 2
Britt	45.5°F	82°F	6°F	34.3	–	April 29
Sac City	46.6°F	83°F	8°F	33.0	31	April 30
Greenfield	49.1°F	84°F	11°F	36.5	26	April 25
Ida Grove	47.5°F	84°F	9°F	–	–	April 27
Sigourney	48.9°F	85°F	12°F	37.4	–	April 24
Pocahontas	46.9°F	84°F	8°F	32.8	39	April 26
Guttenberg	48.5°F	84°F	10°F	37.3	34	April 21
Columbus Junction	48.8°F	84°F	11°F	38.8	31	April 26
Leon	49.6°F	86°F	13°F	39.3	29	April 30
Mount Ayr	49.6°F	85°F	12°F	37.0	21	April 25
Guthrie Center	48.4°F	85°F	10°F	37.1	–	May 2
Oakland	49.4°F	85°F	12°F	36.4	28	April 23
Corning	49.4°F	85°F	12°F	35.3	28	April 27
Holstein	46.8°F	81°F	9°F	33.2	35	April 30
Bedford	50.3°F	86°F	12°F	38.4	–	April 24
Sanborn	45.3°F	83°F	6°F	32.1	41	May 1
Logan	49.1°F	86°F	10°F	34.4	29	April 29
Tripoli	46.4°F	83°F	7°F	38.6	–	April 29
Fayette	45.0°F	82°F	6°F	39.5	41	May 4
Elkader	45.9°F	82°F	6°F	38.8	36	May 8
Lake Park	46.1°F	85°F	6°F	31.4	41	April 30
Mapleton	47.2°F	84°F	9°F	32.2	31	May 3
Sidney	50.7°F	86°F	13°F	33.3	21	April 19
Keosauqua	50.6°F	86°F	14°F	39.7	23	April 26
Allison	46.7°F	83°F	8°F	35.4	–	April 27
Primghar	48.2°F	85°F	9°F	31.4	35	April 29
Donnellson	51.7°F	86°F	15°F	39.2	27	April 17
Colo	47.8°F	83°F	10°F	36.5	31	April 24
Lowden	49.0°F	85°F	12°F	39.6	40	April 27
Dakota City	46.8°F	83°F	8°F	35.8	–	April 26
Sioux Rapids	46.4°F	82°F	8°F	32.0	35	April 30
Coggon	46.5°F	83°F	9°F	39.1	–	May 3
Battle Creek	46.9°F	84°F	8°F	32.1	–	May 1
Swea City	43.8°F	81°F	5°F	32.9	40	May 4
Allerton	49.8°F	85°F	13°F	40.4	–	April 21
Little Sioux	48.1°F	86°F	9°F	39.8	46	May 1
Castana	48.2°F	84°F	10°F	32.1	29	April 25
Stanley	45.4°F	82°F	7°F	38.6	–	May 4
Rathbun	50.4°F	85°F	13°F	38.6	–	April 18
Beaconsfield	49.2°F	84°F	12°F	38.0	27	April 23

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.

What are Iowa's all-time weather records?

The official state records, reviewed by NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee: from 118°F to −47°F.

Iowa: official all-time records (NOAA State Climate Extremes Committee)
Record	Value	Where	When
Highest temperature	118°F	Keokuk No. 2	July 20, 1934
Lowest temperature	−47°F	Elkader (tied 2 times; the latest shown)	February 3, 1996
Most precipitation in 24 hours	13.18 in	Atlantic 1NE	June 14, 1998
Most snow in 24 hours	24 in	Lenox	April 20, 1918
Deepest snow on the ground	52 in	Lake Park (tied 2 times; the latest shown)	March 1, 1969

Source: NOAA NCEI State Climate Extremes Committee records.

Which large cities in Iowa have no climate record of their own?

These 2 cities of 50,000 or more have no NOAA record with 1991-2020 normals under their own name; each page compares the nearest records, with their distance and elevation.

West Des Moines73,664 people
Council Bluffs62,665 people

Which other NOAA stations in Iowa keep normals?

18 stations in Iowa that are not a town's own record keep 1991-2020 normals too: reservoirs and dams, parks and forests, research farms, remote sites and the second stations of towns (those are shown on the town's page). Each with its normal yearly mean:

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station.