Albert Lea, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Albert Lea's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 35.8 inches of precipitation and 40 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.3°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 28°C, 909 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAlbert Lea (3 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00210075
- Location43.61°N 93.30°W
- Elevation1,230 ft (375 m)
- Population18,159
On October 22, the normal high in Albert Lea is 56°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Albert Lea.
- Jan 23° 6°
- Feb 27° 10°
- Mar 40° 23°
- Apr 55° 36°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 78° 59°
- Jul 82° 63°
- Aug 79° 60°
- Sep 73° 51°
- Oct 59° 38°
- Nov 42° 25°
- Dec 28° 13°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Albert Lea each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.44 in), the least in February (0.87 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F | 6°F | 14.2°F | 0.89 | 8.9 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 27°F | 10°F | 18.5°F | 0.87 | 9.8 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 23°F | 31.2°F | 1.94 | 6.6 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 36°F | 45.3°F | 3.74 | 2.8 | 11 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 58.1°F | 4.85 | 0.3 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 59°F | 68.7°F | 5.44 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 63°F | 72.0°F | 4.81 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 60°F | 69.6°F | 4.27 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 51°F | 62.0°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 59°F | 38°F | 48.3°F | 2.58 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 42°F | 25°F | 33.7°F | 1.54 | 2.7 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 28°F | 13°F | 20.9°F | 1.13 | 8.1 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 36°F | 45.2°F | 35.77 | 39.5 | 111 | 8 | 159 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −14°C | −9.9°C | 23 mm | 23 cm |
| February | −3°C | −12°C | −7.5°C | 22 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 4°C | −5°C | −0.4°C | 49 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 95 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.5°C | 123 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 15°C | 20.4°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.2°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 16°C | 20.9°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 16.7°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 66 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 0.9°C | 39 mm | 7 cm |
| December | −2°C | −10°C | −6.2°C | 29 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00210075; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Albert Lea?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00210075.
When is the last frost in Albert Lea?
In Albert Lea, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 26 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 271 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 186 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Albert Lea in zone 5a in ZIP code 56007, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Albert Lea's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00210075; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Albert Lea?
In a normal year in Albert Lea, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 159 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 159a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 78high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1885) is 104°F, on May 31, 1934; the lowest is −41°F, on January 7, 1887.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 50.67 in; the snowiest season is 2018–19, with 68.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00210075; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00210075. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Albert Lea?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Albert Lea, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 1.9 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 82% | 6.5 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 69% | 1.9 |
| December | 65% | 1.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Albert Lea need?
A normal year in Albert Lea brings 7,828 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 650 cooling degree days, 28% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,685 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,575 | 0 |
| February | 1,303 | 0 |
| March | 1,048 | 0 |
| April | 594 | 3 |
| May | 252 | 37 |
| June | 42 | 151 |
| July | 9 | 228 |
| August | 21 | 162 |
| September | 152 | 63 |
| October | 524 | 6 |
| November | 939 | 0 |
| December | 1,369 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,828 | 650 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00210075. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Albert Lea been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.3°F, 2.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.2°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.6°F | +2.4°F | 28.49 | 27.1 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | −0.8°F | 26.01 | 30.0 |
| 2023 | 48.0°F | +2.8°F | 22.30 | 22.7 |
| 2025 | 47.3°F | +2.1°F | 34.31 | 26.5 |
Over 97 complete years from 1886 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00210075; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Albert Lea's climate compare?
Albert Lea is warmer than 106 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 111. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.2°F is warmer than 20%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Albert Lea is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Albert Lea share this climate record?
8 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Lake Mills, IA2,077 people · 17 mi SW
- Clarks Grove, MN682 people · 11 mi N
- Geneva, MN499 people · 15 mi N
- Hollandale, MN303 people · 12 mi NE
- Hayward, MN249 people · 4 mi NE
- Joice, IA206 people · 18 mi SW
- Scarville, IA75 people · 18 mi SW
- Manchester, MN52 people · 11 mi NW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Albert Lea's climate
What is the coldest month in Albert Lea?
January, with a normal high of 23°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Albert Lea?
Yes: 40 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (9.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Albert Lea?
June, with 5.44 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Albert Lea in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Albert Lea in zone 5a in ZIP code 56007, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Albert Lea's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Albert Lea?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Albert Lea in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Northwood, IA12 miles from this station, 43.0°F a year
- Austin, MN17 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Wells, MN24 miles from this station, 45.5°F a year
- Forest City, IA28 miles from this station, 44.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made