Missouri annual temperatures and extremes

Hottest temperature ever recorded: 118 F, Warsaw and Union, west and east-central Missouri, 7/14/1954

Coldest temperature ever recorded: -40 F, Warsaw west-central Missouri, 2/13/1905

Hottest location ranked by highest average annual temperature: Caruthersville, southeast Missouri, 60.0 F

Coldest location ranked by lowest average annual temperature: Maryville, northwest Missouri, 51.2 F

The greatest cold wave in U.S. modern history occurred during the first two weeks of February, 1899. At the
end of the cold wave, the Mississippi River at St Louis had frozen 16 inches thick.

On July 10, 1980, the temperature in downtown Kansas City, MO, hit 109 degrees, following a sultry 
overnight low of 89 degrees. The daily low of 89 degrees was the warmest of record for Kansas City, and 
overall it was the hottest July day of record. It was the seventh of a record seventeen consecutive days of 100
degree heat, and the mean temperature for the month of 90.2 degrees was also an all-time record for
Kansas City.

Because of its inland location, Missouri is subject to frequent changes in temperature. While winters are cold and summers are hot, prolonged periods of very cold or very hot weather are unusual. Occasional periods of mild, above freezing temperatures are noted almost every winter. Conversely, during the peak of the summer season, occasional periods of dry-cool weather break up stretches of hot, humid weather.

Temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (° F) are rare, but they have occurred in every section of the State. In the summer, temperatures rise to 90° F or higher on an average of 40 to 50 days in the west and north and 55 to 60 days in the southeast. Subzero temperatures are infrequent, but have occurred in every county in Missouri. On the average, there are two to five such days a year in the northern counties, and one to two days in the southern counties, although there are some winters when temperatures do not go 0° F at all.

Mean January minimum temperatures follow the northwest-to-southeast gradient, from a low of 12 in the northwest to a high of 24° F in the southeast. However, mean July maximum temperature shows hardly any geographic variation in the state. Mean July maximum temperatures have a range of only three or four degrees across the state (87 to 90° F), and the central Ozarks average somewhat cooler July temperatures than other portions of southern Missouri.

All of Missouri experiences freezing temperatures every year. There is an average of about 110 days with temperature below 32° F in the northern half, the West Central Plains, and East Ozarks, about l00 days in the West Ozarks, and about 70 such days in the Bootheel counties

City	Avg High Temp	Avg Low Temp	Avg Annual Temp	Avg # days > 90F	Avg # days < 32F	Record High Temp	Record Low Temp
Columbia	64.5	44.2	54.3	35	106	111 / 1980	-20 / 1989
Kansas City	64.2	44.3	54.3	27	108	109 / 1984	-23 / 1989
St Louis	65.7	46.5	56.1	43	96	115 / 1954	-18 / 1985
Springfield	66.9	45.2	56.0	13	128	113 / 1954	-17 / 1979
Missouri annual average temperature - 54.45 degrees, 18th warmest state in the U.S. Record Hottest year in Missouri - 2012 / Avg temperature 58.50 degrees Record Coldest year in Missouri - 1895 / Avg temperature 51.69 degrees Missouri average Summer temperature (June, July, August) 75.4 F degrees, 14th warmest U.S. summer state Missouri average Winter temperature (December, January, February) 32.3 F degrees, 27th coldest U.S. winter state