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Weather extremes
How extreme does Des Moines's weather get?
The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Des Moines has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.
The four kinds of extreme
The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Des Moines has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.
That is about 37°F hotter than a normal June afternoon in Des Moines (typical high near 71°F).
The three most extreme on record
About 31°F colder than a normal February night in Des Moines (typical low near 38°F).
The three most extreme on record
More rain in a single day than Des Moines usually gets in the whole month of October (typical October total about 3.9 in).
The three most extreme on record
Close to a whole typical February's snow in one day (Des Moines averages about 2 in across the month).
The three most extreme on record
How hot and cold it gets, month by month
The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.
Des Moines's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — June's 108°F is about 37°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.
In plain terms
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Seattle Tacoma AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00024233), about 5 km from the city centre.