Kansas City, MO climate: monthly averages and frost dates
Kansas City, MO has cold winters and warm summers by this site's scale, with moderate annual precipitation. The figures are the 1991–2020 climate normals for NOAA station USW00003947 (KANSAS CITY INTL AP), 15 mi (25 km) in a straight line from the city's center point (US Census).
- Warmest month high
- 88.3°F
- July
- Coldest month mean
- 29.0°F
- January
- Precipitation
- 39.3 in
- per year
- Snowfall
- 18.2 in
- per year
- Median last frost
- April 13
- 32°F, spring
- Median first frost
- October 24
- 32°F, autumn
Monthly averages in Kansas City
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Mean °F | Precip. in | Snow in | Days ≥0.01 in | Days ≥90°F | Nights ≤32°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38.4 | 19.5 | 29.0 | 1.16 | 4.9 | 6.8 | 0.0 | 27.3 |
| February | 43.6 | 23.6 | 33.6 | 1.48 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 0.0 | 22.0 |
| March | 55.4 | 33.6 | 44.5 | 2.36 | 1.7 | 9.5 | 0.0 | 13.9 |
| April | 65.5 | 43.7 | 54.6 | 4.05 | 0.3 | 11.3 | 0.2 | 3.4 |
| May | 75.0 | 54.3 | 64.6 | 5.32 | 0.0 | 12.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| June | 84.2 | 64.0 | 74.1 | 5.25 | 0.0 | 10.2 | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| July | 88.3 | 68.1 | 78.2 | 4.58 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 13.1 | 0.0 |
| August | 87.1 | 66.3 | 76.7 | 4.24 | 0.0 | 8.4 | 11.6 | 0.0 |
| September | 79.2 | 57.5 | 68.4 | 4.04 | 0.0 | 8.3 | 3.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 67.2 | 45.6 | 56.4 | 3.25 | 0.3 | 8.1 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| November | 53.5 | 33.6 | 43.6 | 2.00 | 1.1 | 6.8 | 0.0 | 13.3 |
| December | 42.3 | 23.9 | 33.1 | 1.57 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 0.0 | 24.6 |
| Year | 65.0 | 44.5 | 54.7 | 39.30 | 18.2 | 103.7 | 36.3 | 107.0 |
How cold is winter in Kansas City?
Winters in Kansas City are cold by this site's scale (coldest-month mean 20 to under 32°F). The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 29.0°F (−1.7°C), a normal daily high of 38.4°F (3.6°C) and a normal daily low of 19.5°F (−6.9°C).
The station averages 107.0 nights a year at or below 32°F and 25.8 days when the high stays at or below 32°F.
The normal daily low is at or below freezing in December to February.
How hot is summer in Kansas City?
Summers in Kansas City are warm by this site's scale (hottest-month high 80 to under 90°F). July has the highest normal daily high, 88.3°F (31.3°C), with nights averaging 68.1°F (20.1°C).
The high reaches 90°F or more on 36.3 days in a normal year.
What is the wettest month in Kansas City?
Kansas City gets 39.30 in (998 mm) of precipitation in a normal year, which this site classes as moderate (20 to under 40 in a year). The wettest month is May with 5.32 in (135 mm); the driest is January with 1.16 in (29 mm).
Measurable precipitation (0.01 in or more) falls on 103.7 days a year.
Does it snow in Kansas City?
Normal annual snowfall in Kansas City is 18.2 in (46 cm), which this site classes as moderate (12 to under 36 in a year).
February is the snowiest month, with 5.9 in (15 cm).
A day with 1.0 in or more of snowfall comes 5.8 times a year on average.
Which months are mild in Kansas City?
4 months in Kansas City meet this site's comfort thresholds (normal high 65–85°F, low 45°F or higher, fewer than 10 days with 0.10 in or more of precipitation): May, June, September and October.
Thresholds and their limits: methodology.
Frost dates and growing season in Kansas City
In Kansas City the median last spring night at or below 32°F is April 13, and the median first autumn one is October 24 (NOAA P50 dates). NOAA's median length of the freeze-free season is 193 days. NOAA takes that median over each year's own season, so it need not equal the 194 days between the two median dates.
There is still a 10% chance of a 32°F night on or after April 29, and a 10% chance that the first one has come by October 9.
The chance that the last spring 32°F night comes on or after March 30 is 90%.
For a hard freeze (28°F or lower) the median dates are April 1 in spring and November 1 in autumn.
| Chance | Last spring 32°F night on or after | First autumn 32°F night by | Freeze-free season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | April 29 | October 9 | 212 |
| 20% | April 24 | October 15 | 206 |
| 30% | April 20 | October 18 | 200 |
| 40% | April 16 | October 21 | 197 |
| 50% | April 13 | October 24 | 193 |
| 60% | April 9 | October 26 | 189 |
| 70% | April 6 | October 29 | 185 |
| 80% | April 2 | November 1 | 178 |
| 90% | March 30 | November 5 | 171 |
| Threshold | Median last date (spring) | Median first date (autumn or winter) | Median season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36°F | April 24 | October 14 | 171 |
| 32°F | April 13 | October 24 | 193 |
| 28°F | April 1 | November 1 | 213 |
| 24°F | March 22 | November 10 | 232 |
| 20°F | March 12 | November 20 | 252 |
| 16°F | March 4 | November 30 | 270 |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 84% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 78% | 100% | 100% |
Nearby and similar places
Of the places on this site, the closest to Kansas City by station distance are Minneapolis, MN at 394 mi (633 km), Chicago, IL at 402 mi (647 km) and Indianapolis, IN at 451 mi (726 km).
Among places whose winter, summer and precipitation words are each within one band of Kansas City's (winter: cold, summer: warm, precipitation: moderate), the closest monthly temperature and precipitation patterns are Chicago, IL, Indianapolis, IN and Burlington, VT.
Compared with Minneapolis, MN, Kansas City's peak-month normal high is 4.9°F (2.7°C) higher, its coldest-month mean is 12.8°F (7.1°C) higher, and its annual precipitation is 7.68 in more.
| Place | Listed as | Station distance | Coldest mean °F | Warmest high °F | Precip. in/yr | Snow in/yr | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City, MO | this page | – | 29.0 | 88.3 | 39.3 | 18.2 | April 13 |
| Minneapolis, MN | nearby | 394 mi (633 km) | 16.2 | 83.4 | 31.6 | 51.2 | April 23 |
| Chicago, IL | nearby, similar | 402 mi (647 km) | 25.2 | 84.5 | 37.9 | 38.4 | April 16 |
| Indianapolis, IN | nearby, similar | 451 mi (726 km) | 28.5 | 85.2 | 43.6 | 25.5 | April 15 |
| Burlington, VT | similar | 1,162 mi (1,870 km) | 20.9 | 82.4 | 37.5 | 87.5 | April 29 |
How nearby and similar places are chosen: methodology.
Source and station
The data for Kansas City come from NOAA station KANSAS CITY INTL AP, MO US (USW00003947) at 39.2972, -94.7306, elevation 1,005 ft (306 m). It lies 15 mi (25 km) in a straight line from the center point of Kansas City city, the “internal point” in the US Census 2024 Gazetteer.
Each monthly normal used here rests on at least 27 years of data from 1991–2020 (NOAA's per-field year counts).
NOAA completeness flags on the monthly fields used here:
- S: Standard: meets WMO standards for data availability for 24 or more years.
Cite the data as:
Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00003947 (KANSAS CITY INTL AP, MO US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/wck8-er13. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00003947 (KANSAS CITY INTL AP, MO US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/4ek7-fk11. Accessed 2026-10-09.
Files used: monthly normals CSV, annual/seasonal normals CSV (retrieved 2026-10-09). The values on this page as JSON: /us/mo/kansas-city/data.json.