Iowa City Metro Area, IA Climate

The climate in the Iowa City, IA Metro Area is classified as a humid continental climate. Winters are cold and snowy, with temperatures ranging from below freezing to above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures often exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year, but the heaviest rainfall occurs during the summer months of June through August. Snowfall typically occurs from November to April. The area also experiences thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes during the spring and summer months.

Iowa City Metro Area, Iowa gets 37 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

Iowa City Metro Area averages 27 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 194 sunny days per year in Iowa City Metro Area. The US average is 205 sunny days.

Iowa City Metro Area gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 101 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

Weather Highlights

Summer High: the July high is around 85 degrees
Winter Low: the January low is 13
Rain: averages 37 inches of rain a year
Snow: averages 27 inches of snow a year

Bestplaces Comfort Index

The annual BestPlaces Comfort Index for the Iowa City metro area is 7.0 (10=best), which means it is more comfortable than most places in Iowa.

8.6 Summer - 4.7 Winter

June, September and May are the most pleasant months in the Iowa City metro area, while January and December are the least comfortable months.

Climate	Iowa City, Iowa	United States
	36.8 in.	38.1 in.
	27.3 in.	27.8 in.
	100.9 days	106.2 days
	194 days	205 days
	85.2°	85.8°
	13.0°	21.7°
	7	7
	4	4.3
	737 ft.	2443 ft.

Climate

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Many people confuse weather and climate but they are different. Weather is the conditions of the atmosphere over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere is over long periods of time.

Weather is how the atmosphere is behaving and its effects upon life and human activities. Weather can change from minute-to-minute. Most people think of weather in terms of temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, visibility, wind, and atmospheric pressure.

Climate is the description of the long-term pattern of weather in a place. Climate can mean the average weather for a particular region and time period taken over 30 years. Climate is the average of weather over time.

July is the hottest month for the Iowa City metro area with an average high temperature of 85.2°, which ranks it as warmer than most places in Iowa. In the Iowa City metro area, there are 4 comfortable months with high temperatures in the range of 70-85°. The most pleasant months of the year for the Iowa City metro area are September, June and August.

In the Iowa City metro area, there are 16.4 days annually when the high temperature is over 90°, which is hotter than most places in Iowa.

January has the coldest nighttime temperatures for the Iowa City metro area with an average of 13.0°. This is warmer than most places in Iowa.

In the Iowa City metro area, there are 135.2 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below freezing, which is warmer than most places in Iowa.

In the Iowa City metro area, there are 12.9 days annually when the nighttime low temperature falls below zero°, which is warmer than most places in Iowa.

The humidity is usually comfortable in the Iowa City metro area but some summer months can be unpleasant. July is the most humid month, though humidity is low for most of the year. The most humid months in the Iowa City metro area are July, August and June.

June is the wettest month in the Iowa City metro area with 4.8 inches of rain, and the driest month is January with 1.1 inches. The wettest season is Autumn with 38% of yearly precipitation and 11% occurs in Spring, which is the driest season. The annual rainfall of 36.8 inches in the Iowa City metro area means that it is wetter than most places in Iowa.

May is the rainiest month in the Iowa City metro area with 11.3 days of rain, and February is the driest month with only 6.0 rainy days. There are 100.9 rainy days annually in the Iowa City metro area, which is rainier than most places in Iowa. The rainiest season is Summer when it rains 29% of the time and the driest is Spring with only a 20% chance of a rainy day.

An annual snowfall of 27.3 inches in the Iowa City metro area means that it is less snowy than most places in Iowa. December is the snowiest month in the Iowa City metro area with 7.7 inches of snow, and 6 months of the year have significant snowfall.

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