Best time to visit Des Moines

Des Moines is a city of two halves. September scores 80 and February scores 27 — a 53-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. 4 of the twelve months sit within ten points of the best, so there is more than one right answer.

July is the warmest month at 30.5 °C and January the coolest at -0.7 °C — a 31.2 °C spread across the year. Around 44 days a year top 30 °C, concentrated in July and the months either side. At the other end, 138 nights a year fall below freezing: the winter here is a real one.

There is a real wet season here. May to August carry the rain — up to 14 wet days in a month — while January, February, November and December drop as low as 5. That 9-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Des Moines, and it moves further than the temperature does.

Daylight runs from 9.2 hours in winter to 15.2 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are September, October, May. The one to think twice about is February. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight and crowd levels.

Des Moines month by month