Climate and average weather in Liberal

In Liberal, the summers are sweltering, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: late March to late May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Liberal typically varies from 24°F to 93°F, and is rarely below 12°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 Liberal for warm-weather activities are from late March to late May and mid September to early November.

Hottest
Jul
93°
Coldest
Jan
24°
Wettest
Jun
2.6 in
Driest
Jan
0.6 in
Rain / yr
19.0 in
69 wet days
Daylight
9.5–14.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,835 ft
37.0°N
Clearest
Sep
34% cloud

Liberal is city in and county seat of Seward County, Kansas, Unite States.

Density
682/km²
people per km²
Founded
1888

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

Liberal 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 late March to late May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Liberal, 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 82°F. The hottest month of the year in Liberal is July, with an average high of 93°F and low of 68°F.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from November 24 to February 28, with daily high temperatures below 55°F. The coldest month of the year in Liberal is January, with an average low of 24°F and high of 47°F.

Days typically run about 24°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4724
Feb5227
Mar6135
Apr6943
May7854
Jun8864
Jul9368
Aug9067
Sep8359
Oct7146
Nov5834
Dec4826

How hot and cold Liberal 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, Liberal feels like about 93°F (around July 14). 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 14°F (around January 2), with roughly 149 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 3 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)
Jan48471424
Feb52521727
Mar61612735
Apr69693743
May79785354
Jun88886464
Jul93936868
Aug90906767
Sep83835959
Oct71714246
Nov58582634
Dec48481626

Average hourly temperature in Liberal

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 93°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 24°F.

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

Liberal 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
Jan47° / 24°0.62.929.72.0
Feb52° / 27°0.73.31.910.63.2
Mar61° / 35°1.55.31.611.75.8
Apr69° / 43°1.86.20.612.97.2
May78° / 54°2.58.40147.1
Jun88° / 64°2.68.7014.54.7
Jul93° / 68°1.98014.33.4
Aug90° / 67°2.58.7013.44.2
Sep83° / 59°1.45.9012.36.7
Oct71° / 46°1.950.3117.8
Nov58° / 34°0.630.9105.3
Dec48° / 26°1.03.62.39.52.1

Chance of rain

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

Liberal gets about 19.0 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 Apr 14 to Sep 22, peaking in August at about 31% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 11.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 2.6 in over about 9 wet days; January is the driest, with 0.6 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetAug 3 · 31%Jan 11 · 9%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan103
Feb123
Mar175
Apr216
May278
Jun289
Jul278
Aug279
Sep206
Oct155
Nov113
Dec114

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Liberal collects about 19.0 in of rain across 69 wet days — roughly 1.6 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 2.6 in, while January is the driest at just 0.6 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0.60.71.51.82.52.61.92.51.41.90.61.0
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan0.632
Feb0.732
Mar1.552
Apr1.861
May2.580
Jun2.690
Jul1.980
Aug2.590
Sep1.460
Oct1.950
Nov0.631
Dec1.042

Snow in Liberal

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.

Liberal averages about 10 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 23 to Apr 17 — about 5.8 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 19 in of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 31
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan23
Feb24
Mar25
Apr11
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov11
Dec25

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Liberal, 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 7 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around October 30. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 17 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around June 6. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 38% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 28 · 79%Feb 18 · 62%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6634
Feb6238
Mar6337
Apr6337
May6535
Jun7327
Jul7624
Aug7624
Sep7723
Oct7327
Nov7030
Dec6931

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 8, brings about 14 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 5 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.78:015:45
Feb10.67:416:16
Mar11.77:026:45
Apr12.96:157:12
May14.05:417:39
Jun14.55:288:00
Jul14.35:407:59
Aug13.46:057:31
Sep12.36:316:45
Oct11.06:586:00
Nov10.07:295:28
Dec9.57:565:24

Sunny days

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

Liberal averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 14 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Aug 15 to Jan 18. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 15 sunny days — about 24% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2620 daysMay 2914 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb14Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr14Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun15Bright
Jul17Bright
Aug17Bright
Sep19Bright
Oct19Bright
Nov18Bright
Dec17Bright

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 Liberal, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.7 months, from around May 30 to September 19. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 48% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 20 to May 29, and April 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 3 · 100%Aug 7 · 44%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr99100
May791750
Jun3335284
Jul16343614
Aug19333314
Sep5826151
Oct93510
Nov100000
Dec100000

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 Liberal is typically light breeze, near 11 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.3 months, from around Feb 27 to Jul 7. The windiest month is April, averaging about 12 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 19 to Feb 26, with January the calmest month at about 9 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyApr 12 · 12 mphJan 14 · 9 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan9light breeze
Feb10light breeze
Mar11light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May11light breeze
Jun11light breeze
Jul10light breeze
Aug10light breeze
Sep11light breeze
Oct11light breeze
Nov10light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Best time to visit Liberal

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early April, Liberal 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 Liberal for general outdoor tourist activities run from late March to late May and again from mid September to early November, with a peak score in the second week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 8 · 8.1

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
Jan2.0poor
Feb3.2poor
Mar5.7good
Apr7.2good
May7.0good
Jun4.7fair
Jul3.4poor
Aug4.2fair
Sep6.6good
Oct7.8ideal
Nov5.3fair
Dec2.2poor

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 Liberal for hot-weather activities is from early May to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 15 · 7.9

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 Liberal, 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 93°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 47°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Liberal sees daytime highs around 93°F and nights near 68°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Liberal 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 Liberal peaks around July 11 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 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 highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 11UV 10Dec 20UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar5High
Apr8Very high
May8Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5High
Nov4Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Liberal

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 July 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
Feb3.50
Mar50
Apr7.54.5
May7.54.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov30
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Liberal typically lasts about 259 days, from around March 8 to November 21 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 15 to October 22.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 850%Apr 1590%Oct 2290%Nov 2150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1731
Feb2828
Mar6231
Apr9014
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct938
Nov5930
Dec2231

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. Liberal banks about 4,208 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
Mar10
Apr186
May500
Jun780
Jul949
Aug880
Sep635
Oct266
Nov3
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.

Liberal receives about 5.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.7 and 7.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 23. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 63% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 287.3 kWhDec 182.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.0Moderate
Feb4.0Moderate
Mar5.2Bright
Apr6.3Intense
May6.9Intense
Jun7.3Intense
Jul7.2Intense
Aug6.4Intense
Sep5.4Bright
Oct4.2Bright
Nov3.1Moderate
Dec2.7Moderate

Where is Liberal?

Liberal sits at 37.0°N, 100.9°W, 2,835 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Garden City, 64 mi away.

Topography around Liberal

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Liberal has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 79 ft around an average of 2,841 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 430 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,594 ft.

The land around Liberal is covered by grassland (39%) and artificial surfaces (36%) within 2 miles, cropland (56%) and grassland (42%) within 10 miles, and grassland (50%) and cropland (50%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
79 ft
10 miles
430 ft
50 miles
1,594 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Garden City 64 mi · Dodge City 70 mi · Dumas 100 mi · Pampa 104 mi · Amarillo 135 mi · Great Bend 149 mi · Hays 153 mi · Enid 175 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 Liberal (37.0431°, -100.921°, elevation 2,835 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).