Climate - Indianapolis (Indiana)

The climate of Indianapolis, the capital and main city of Indiana, is continental, with very cold winters and warm to hot summers, during which there are quite frequent thunderstorms.
The city is located in the Midwest of the United States, at an altitude of 220 meters (720 feet).
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of -2.2 °C (28 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 24.1 °C (75 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 1,080 millimeters (42.5 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 60 mm (2.4 in) in the driest month (February) to 130 mm (5.1 in) in the wettest (May). May is the wettest month especially because of afternoon thunderstorms. Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from late November to early March, is very cold. Snowfalls are frequent, and at times can be abundant. On average, 66 centimeters (26 inches) of snow fall per year. The heaviest snowfall in one day occurred in January 2014, when 29 cm (11.5 in) of snow fell. However, snow is not as abundant as on the east coast of the United States or in the Great Lakes region.
Cold waves are intense, in fact, the temperature drops below -20 °C (-4 °F) almost every year. The record cold, -33 °C (-27 °F), was set in January 1994.
However, there can also be short, fairly mild periods, with highs of 12/13 °C (54/55 °F) or more.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and quite sunny, although thunderstorms can break out in the afternoon.
However, there can sometimes be very hot and muggy periods. Typically, the temperature reaches 35 °C (95 °F) on the hottest days of the year, although the record is 40.5 °C (105 °F), set in July 2012.

Spring and autumn, from mid-March to May and from September to mid-November, are contrasted seasons, with fairly frequent rains and sudden changes in temperature. However, there are also stable and pleasant periods.
We are in the area where tornadoes can form, which are more likely in spring, but sometimes can also occur in autumn.



On average, there are around 2,440 sunshine hours per year. Therefore, even though the winter is cold and the summer is rainy, the sun shines for a good number of hours. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Best Time

The best times to visit Indianapolis are spring and autumn, especially the months of May and September.
In October, you can admire the beautiful colors of the trees losing their leaves (the phenomenon called fall foliage).