Climate and average weather in Junction City

In Junction City, the summers are humid, hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early September to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Junction City typically varies from 22°F to 90°F, and is rarely below 5°F or above 100°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 Junction City for warm-weather activities are from late April to early June and early September to late October.

Hottest
Jul
90°
Coldest
Jan
22°
Wettest
May
5.5 in
Driest
Jan
0.9 in
Rain / yr
34.8 in
93 wet days
Daylight
9.3–14.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,106 ft
39.0°N
Clearest
Sep
41% cloud

Junction City is city in and county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States.

Density
778/km²
people per km²
Founded
1854

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

Junction City 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 September to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Junction City, 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 24 to September 21, with daily high temperatures above 78°F. The hottest month of the year in Junction City is July, with an average high of 90°F and low of 70°F.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from November 28 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 49°F. The coldest month of the year in Junction City is January, with an average low of 22°F and high of 40°F.

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

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4022
Feb4525
Mar5635
Apr6645
May7555
Jun8566
Jul9070
Aug8867
Sep8059
Oct6846
Nov5435
Dec4325

How hot and cold Junction City 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, Junction City feels like about 93°F (around July 16). About 43 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 11°F (around January 7), with roughly 143 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 47 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan40401222
Feb45451625
Mar56562735
Apr66663945
May75755555
Jun86856666
Jul92907070
Aug89886767
Sep80805959
Oct68684346
Nov54542735
Dec43431625

Average hourly temperature in Junction City

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 90°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 22°F.

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

Junction City 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
Jan40° / 22°0.94.32.89.60.0
Feb45° / 25°1.45.32.710.51.0
Mar56° / 35°2.47.91.711.73.9
Apr66° / 45°3.69.80.5136.1
May75° / 55°5.512.1014.16.5
Jun85° / 66°4.510.6014.75.3
Jul90° / 70°3.89.7014.54.1
Aug88° / 67°3.78.9013.54.9
Sep80° / 59°3.27012.37.0
Oct68° / 46°2.57.30.2116.9
Nov54° / 35°1.75.119.93.8
Dec43° / 25°1.44.62.49.30.5

Chance of rain

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

Junction City gets about 34.8 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 5.4 months, from around Mar 16 to Aug 25, peaking in May at about 40% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 11.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 5.5 in over about 12 wet days; January is the driest, with 0.9 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMay 30 · 40%Jan 11 · 13%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan144
Feb195
Mar258
Apr3310
May3912
Jun3511
Jul3110
Aug289
Sep257
Oct227
Nov175
Dec165

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Junction City collects about 34.8 in of rain across 93 wet days — roughly 2.9 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 5.5 in, while January is the driest at just 0.9 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0.91.42.43.65.54.53.83.73.22.51.71.4
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan0.943
Feb1.453
Mar2.482
Apr3.6101
May5.5120
Jun4.5110
Jul3.8100
Aug3.790
Sep3.270
Oct2.570
Nov1.751
Dec1.452

Snow in Junction City

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.

Junction City averages about 11 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 30 to Apr 16 — about 5.6 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 3 days of snow and an estimated 6 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 21 in of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 1
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan34
Feb36
Mar23
Apr11
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov12
Dec25

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Junction City, 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 9 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around November 18. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 69% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 19 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around June 8. The cloudiest month is May, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 51% 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 15 · 71%Apr 29 · 47%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5545
Feb5149
Mar5050
Apr5050
May4951
Jun6238
Jul6931
Aug6832
Sep6733
Oct6634
Nov5941
Dec5446

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 9, brings about 14 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.67:505:23
Feb10.57:275:56
Mar11.76:466:28
Apr13.05:576:58
May14.15:207:27
Jun14.75:067:49
Jul14.55:187:48
Aug13.55:457:18
Sep12.36:146:29
Oct11.06:445:41
Nov9.97:185:07
Dec9.37:455:02

Sunny days

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

Junction City averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.0 months, from around Jun 14 to Dec 14. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 10 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the October peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightOct 117 daysMay 229 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun13Mixed
Jul15Mixed
Aug15Mixed
Sep16Bright
Oct16Bright
Nov14Mixed
Dec13Mixed

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 Junction City, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around May 17 to September 23. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 86% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 24 to May 16, 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 26 · 100%Jul 17 · 11%oppressivemuggydryhumidcomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar982000
Apr917200
May55191880
Jun141827347
Jul311234221
Aug713283913
Sep421820192
Oct8410510
Nov982000
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 Junction City is typically light breeze, near 9 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around Feb 14 to May 26. The windiest month is April, averaging about 10 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 22 to Sep 24, with August the calmest month at about 7 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyApr 10 · 10 mphAug 8 · 7 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan9light breeze
Feb9light breeze
Mar10light breeze
Apr10light breeze
May9light breeze
Jun9light breeze
Jul8light breeze
Aug7light breeze
Sep9light breeze
Oct9light breeze
Nov9light breeze
Dec9light breeze

Hazard calendar for Junction City

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Junction City's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Junction City

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid October, Junction City is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Junction City for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid April to early June and again from early September to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 29 · 7.7

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb1.1poor
Mar3.9fair
Apr6.0good
May6.5good
Jun5.3fair
Jul4.2fair
Aug4.9fair
Sep7.0good
Oct6.9good
Nov3.8fair
Dec0.6poor

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 Junction City for hot-weather activities is from late May to early October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 3 · 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 Junction City, 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 90°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 40°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Junction City sees daytime highs around 90°F and nights near 70°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Junction City 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 Junction City peaks around June 23 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 2 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateJun 23UV 10Dec 20UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr7High
May7Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep7High
Oct5Moderate
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Junction City

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 5.5 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
Feb1.50
Mar50
Apr73
May7.53.5
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug85
Sep6.52.5
Oct4.50
Nov1.50
Dec00

Air quality in Junction City by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Junction City is worst in April — around 32 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 5.1× the cleanest month (October, 6 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodModerateGoodApr 1530 µg/m³Oct 236 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb11Good
Mar16Moderate
Apr32Moderate
May11Good
Jun11Good
Jul14Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep11Good
Oct6Good
Nov7Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Junction City typically lasts about 258 days, from around March 10 to November 22 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 16 to October 22.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1050%Apr 1690%Oct 2290%Nov 2250%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1631
Feb2628
Mar6031
Apr9014
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct938
Nov6030
Dec2431

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. Junction City banks about 3,976 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar1
Apr157
May473
Jun762
Jul928
Aug854
Sep583
Oct218
Nov0
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.

Junction City receives about 4.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 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 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.2 kWh/m² — roughly 67% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 16.9 kWhDec 182.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.5Moderate
Feb3.4Moderate
Mar4.4Bright
Apr5.3Bright
May5.9Bright
Jun6.7Intense
Jul6.7Intense
Aug6.0Bright
Sep5.0Bright
Oct3.6Moderate
Nov2.6Moderate
Dec2.2Moderate

Where is Junction City?

Junction City sits at 39.0°N, 96.8°W, 1,106 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Manhattan, 17 mi away.

Topography around Junction City

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Junction City has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 253 ft around an average of 1,129 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 384 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 810 ft.

The land around Junction City is covered by trees (36%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 2 miles, grassland (49%), trees (22%) and cropland (20%) within 10 miles, and grassland (56%) and cropland (35%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
253 ft
10 miles
384 ft
50 miles
810 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Manhattan 17 mi · Salina 44 mi · Emporia 55 mi · Topeka 62 mi · Newton 73 mi · Lawrence 86 mi · Hutchinson 89 mi · Wichita 96 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 Junction City (39.0286°, -96.8314°, elevation 1,106 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).