Climate and average weather in Derby

In Derby, the summers are humid, hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: early April to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Derby typically varies from 25°F to 91°F, and is rarely below 10°F or above 101°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Derby for warm-weather activities are from early April to late May and mid September to late October.

Hottest
Jul
91°
Coldest
Jan
25°
Wettest
May
5.4 in
Driest
Jan
1.1 in
Rain / yr
34.5 in
88 wet days
Daylight
9.4–14.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,293 ft
37.5°N
Clearest
Sep
40% cloud

Derby is city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States.

Density
888/km²
people per km²
Founded
1871

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Derby weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early April to late May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Derby, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.0 months, from May 25 to September 22, with daily high temperatures above 79°F. The hottest month of the year in Derby is July, with an average high of 91°F and low of 71°F.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from November 27 to February 28, with daily high temperatures below 53°F. The coldest month of the year in Derby is January, with an average low of 25°F and high of 44°F.

Days typically run about 20°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4425
Feb4928
Mar5937
Apr6846
May7757
Jun8667
Jul9171
Aug8969
Sep8261
Oct7048
Nov5736
Dec4627

How hot and cold Derby really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Derby feels like about 95°F (around July 17). About 67 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 15°F (around January 8), with roughly 130 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan44441525
Feb49491928
Mar59593037
Apr68684146
May77775757
Jun87866767
Jul94917171
Aug91896969
Sep82826161
Oct70704548
Nov57572936
Dec46461827

Average hourly temperature in Derby

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 91°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 25°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Derby weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan44° / 25°1.14.31.99.70.9
Feb49° / 28°1.45.31.710.62.2
Mar59° / 37°2.87.71.111.74.8
Apr68° / 46°3.89.60.212.96.4
May77° / 57°5.411.40146.6
Jun86° / 67°4.610.4014.55.0
Jul91° / 71°3.08.1014.34.0
Aug89° / 69°3.07.5013.44.5
Sep82° / 61°3.07012.36.7
Oct70° / 48°3.270.1117.3
Nov57° / 36°1.75.30.5104.6
Dec46° / 27°1.54.82.19.51.4

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Derby gets about 34.5 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.3 months, from around Mar 13 to Aug 19, peaking in May at about 38% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 9.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 5.4 in over about 11 wet days; January is the driest, with 1.1 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 27 · 38%Jan 9 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan144
Feb195
Mar258
Apr3210
May3711
Jun3510
Jul268
Aug248
Sep237
Oct217
Nov185
Dec165

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Derby collects about 34.5 in of rain across 88 wet days — roughly 2.9 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 5.4 in, while January is the driest at just 1.1 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.11.42.83.85.44.63.03.03.03.21.71.5
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1.142
Feb1.452
Mar2.881
Apr3.8100
May5.4110
Jun4.6100
Jul3.080
Aug3.080
Sep3.070
Oct3.270
Nov1.751
Dec1.552

Snow in Derby

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Derby averages about 8 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 20 to Apr 3 — about 4.4 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 2.0 days of snow and an estimated 3 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 14 in of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonJan 29
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan23
Feb24
Mar12
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov11
Dec24

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Derby, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around June 11 and lasts for 5.1 months, ending around November 12. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 72% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 29 and lasts for 6.4 months, ending around June 10. The cloudiest month is May, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 49% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 22 · 74%May 23 · 50%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5941
Feb5545
Mar5347
Apr5347
May5149
Jun6436
Jul7228
Aug7129
Sep6832
Oct6733
Nov6139
Dec5842

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 13, brings about 14 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.77:485:29
Feb10.67:276:00
Mar11.76:486:30
Apr12.96:006:58
May14.05:257:26
Jun14.55:127:47
Jul14.35:247:45
Aug13.45:497:17
Sep12.36:166:31
Oct11.06:445:45
Nov10.07:165:13
Dec9.57:435:08

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Derby averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Jun 17 to Dec 7. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 11 sunny days — about 34% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightOct 218 daysMay 2510 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan14Mixed
Feb12Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr12Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul17Bright
Aug16Bright
Sep16Bright
Oct17Bright
Nov15Bright
Dec14Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Derby, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around May 12 to September 25. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 89% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 26 to May 11, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 22 · 100%Jul 15 · 8%oppressivemuggydryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar963100
Apr8610400
May461823130
Jun91525419
Jul29204722
Aug612303914
Sep371722223
Oct7912630
Nov973100
Dec1000000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Derby is typically light breeze, near 10 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around Feb 15 to May 28. The windiest month is April, averaging about 11 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 24 to Oct 1, with August the calmest month at about 8 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyApr 11 · 11 mphAug 10 · 8 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan9light breeze
Feb10light breeze
Mar11light breeze
Apr11light breeze
May10light breeze
Jun10light breeze
Jul9light breeze
Aug8light breeze
Sep9light breeze
Oct10light breeze
Nov10light breeze
Dec9light breeze

Best time to visit Derby

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Derby throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid April, Derby is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Derby for general outdoor tourist activities run from early April to late May and again from mid September to late October, with a peak score in the first week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 2 · 7.8

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.9poor
Feb2.3poor
Mar4.8fair
Apr6.4good
May6.6good
Jun5.1fair
Jul4.0fair
Aug4.5fair
Sep6.7good
Oct7.3good
Nov4.6fair
Dec1.5poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Derby for hot-weather activities is from mid May to early October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 6 · 7.6

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Derby, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 91°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 44°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Derby sees daytime highs around 91°F and nights near 71°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Derby by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Derby peaks around June 22 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 23 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highHighModerateJun 22UV 10Dec 23UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar5High
Apr8Very high
May8Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5High
Nov4Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Derby

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb2.50
Mar50
Apr74
May7.54
Jun8.56
Jul8.55.5
Aug85
Sep6.53
Oct50
Nov2.50
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Derby typically lasts about 269 days, from around March 4 to November 27 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 11 to October 25.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 450%Apr 1190%Oct 2590%Nov 2750%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2231
Feb3528
Mar6831
Apr939
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct954
Nov6630
Dec3131

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Derby banks about 4,332 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar16
Apr215
May519
Jun791
Jul960
Aug905
Sep639
Oct280
Nov7
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Derby receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 25. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.4 kWh/m² — roughly 66% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 116.9 kWhDec 182.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.7Moderate
Feb3.6Moderate
Mar4.6Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May6.0Intense
Jun6.8Intense
Jul6.9Intense
Aug6.2Intense
Sep5.0Bright
Oct3.8Moderate
Nov2.8Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Derby?

Derby sits at 37.5°N, 97.3°W, 1,293 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Wichita, 11 mi away.

Topography around Derby

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Derby.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Derby has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 138 ft around an average of 1,283 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 249 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 751 ft.

The land around Derby is covered by trees (39%) and grassland (24%) within 2 miles, cropland (37%), grassland (31%) and trees (20%) within 10 miles, and cropland (46%) and grassland (44%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
138 ft
10 miles
249 ft
50 miles
751 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Wichita 11 mi · Newton 35 mi · Hutchinson 51 mi · Ponca City 59 mi · Emporia 84 mi · Enid 86 mi · Bartlesville 90 mi · Salina 91 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Derby (37.5456°, -97.2689°, elevation 1,293 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).