Climate - Omaha (Nebraska)

The climate of Omaha, the main city of Nebraska, is continental, with very cold winters and hot summers, with quite frequent thunderstorms.
The city is located in the Midwest of the United States, not far from the geographic center of the country, at an altitude of 350 meters (1,150 feet). The Missouri River, which receives the waters of the Platte River south of the city, marks the border with the state of Iowa, where the town of Council Bluffs is located.
The climate is characterized by clashes of air masses of different origins, which give rise to sudden changes in temperature, thunderstorms (in spring and summer), sometimes accompanied by hail, and intense cold waves in winter.
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of -4.2 °C (24 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 25.6 °C (78 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 810 millimeters (31.9 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 20 mm (0.8 in) in the driest month (January) to 120 mm (4.7 in) in the wettest (May).
Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from late November to early March, is very cold.
Snowfalls are frequent, although generally they are not very abundant, since winter is the driest season of the year. On average, 69 centimeters (27,1 in) of snow fall per year. It usually snows from October through April. The heaviest snowfall in one day occurred in February 1965, when 46.5 cm (18.5 in) of snow fell.
On average, there are 134 days on which the minimum temperature is equal to or below freezing, and that usually happens from October through April. Furthermore, there are 40 icing days (that is, on which the air temperature does not go above freezing), and that usually happens from November through March.
Cold waves are intense, in fact, the temperature usually drops to -25 °C (-13 °F) on the coldest nights of the year. The record cold, -34.5 °C (-30 °F), occurred in January 1977. After 1981, the temperature dropped to -30.5 °C (-23 °F) in January 1982, December 1989, February 1996 and February 2021.
However, there may be short periods when the temperature exceeds 10/12 °C (50/54 °F), and sometimes reaches as high as 20 °C (68 °F), even in the middle of winter.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and sunny, although thunderstorms can break out in the afternoon.
On average, there are 33 days with a maximum temperature equal to or above 32 °C (90 °F), and that usually happens from May through September.
Typically, the temperature reaches 38/39 °C (100/102 °F) on the hottest days of the year, although the record is 42.5 °C (108.5 °F), recorded in July 1995. In July 2012, the average maximum was 36.9 °C (98.4 °F).

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.
Omaha is located in the area where tornadoes can form, which are most likely in spring, but can occasionally occur in autumn as well.



On average, there are around 2,725 sunshine hours per year. Thus, the sun shines for a good number of hours. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Best Time

The best time to visit Omaha is early autumn, from September to early October. You can also choose spring, in particular the month of May, which however is a more unstable period.