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Weather extremes

How extreme does Ely's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Ely has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Cedar Rapids Muni Ap station 12 km away. Updated through June 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Ely has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
104°F Jul 31, 1988

That is about 21°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Ely (typical high near 83°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 104°F Jul 31, 1988
2 103°F Jul 25, 2012
3 102°F Aug 15, 1988
❄️ Coldest night
-30°F Jan 31, 2019

About 41°F colder than a normal January night in Ely (typical low near 11°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -30°F Jan 31, 2019
2 -29°F Jan 15, 2009
3 -28°F Jan 12, 1974
🌧️ Most rain in one day
5.35 in Aug 27, 2009

More rain in a single day than Ely usually gets in the whole month of August (typical August total about 4.1 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 5.35 in Aug 27, 2009
2 5.10 in Aug 9, 1993
3 4.91 in Aug 11, 2016
Most snow in one day
11.5 in Jan 2, 1999

The three most extreme on record

1 11.5 in Jan 2, 1999
2 11.0 in Dec 1, 1978
3 9.7 in Jan 3, 1971

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.

-50°-30°-10°10°30°50°70°90°110°130° all-time high 104°F JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Ely's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 104°F is about 21°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

In a normal year, Ely's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the low 10s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 104°F and as low as −30°F. A single day has delivered over 5 inches of rain or close to 12 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.
Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Cedar Rapids Muni AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014990), about 12 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →