Austin, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Austin's normal year runs from 5°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 36.2 inches of precipitation and 43 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.0°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 27°C, 920 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAustin Waste Water Treatment Plant Facility
- Station IDUSC00210355
- Location43.65°N 92.97°W
- Elevation1,199 ft (366 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population26,690
On October 14, the normal high in Austin is 60°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Austin.
- Jan 22° 5°
- Feb 26° 9°
- Mar 39° 23°
- Apr 55° 35°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 81° 61°
- Aug 79° 59°
- Sep 72° 50°
- Oct 58° 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 Austin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 5°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.07 in), the least in February (1.10 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F | 5°F | 13.7°F | 1.12 | 11.0 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 26°F | 9°F | 17.8°F | 1.10 | 10.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 39°F | 23°F | 31.0°F | 2.03 | 7.5 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 35°F | 45.0°F | 3.67 | 2.2 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 57.5°F | 4.99 | 0.3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 67.9°F | 5.07 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 81°F | 61°F | 71.0°F | 4.85 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 59°F | 68.7°F | 4.07 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 50°F | 61.1°F | 3.60 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 58°F | 38°F | 47.9°F | 2.63 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 42°F | 25°F | 33.1°F | 1.84 | 2.3 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 28°F | 13°F | 20.5°F | 1.25 | 9.3 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 35°F | 44.6°F | 36.22 | 43.4 | 106 | 6 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −15°C | −10.2°C | 28 mm | 28 cm |
| February | −3°C | −13°C | −7.9°C | 28 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 4°C | −5°C | −0.6°C | 52 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 13°C | 2°C | 7.2°C | 93 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.2°C | 127 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 25°C | 15°C | 19.9°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 16°C | 21.7°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.4°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 8.8°C | 67 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 5°C | −4°C | 0.6°C | 47 mm | 6 cm |
| December | −2°C | −11°C | −6.4°C | 32 mm | 24 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00210355; 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 Austin?
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 USC00210355.
When is the last frost in Austin?
In Austin, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 5 in half of years and before September 22 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 301 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 51 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 158 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 180 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Austin in zone 4b in ZIP code 55912, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Austin's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 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 USC00210355; 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 Austin?
In a normal year in Austin, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 106 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 80high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 106a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1938) is 102°F, on July 24, 1940; the lowest is −42°F, on January 15, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 48.35 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 76.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00210355; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00210355. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Austin?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Austin, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.3 |
| October | 69% | 2.8 |
| November | 68% | 1.9 |
| December | 63% | 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 Austin need?
A normal year in Austin brings 7,964 heating degree days, 48% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 565 cooling degree days, 38% 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 2,548 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,592 | 0 |
| February | 1,323 | 0 |
| March | 1,056 | 0 |
| April | 601 | 2 |
| May | 263 | 31 |
| June | 45 | 132 |
| July | 13 | 199 |
| August | 27 | 142 |
| September | 172 | 54 |
| October | 535 | 5 |
| November | 957 | 0 |
| December | 1,381 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,964 | 565 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00210355. 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 Austin been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.0°F | +2.4°F | 30.39 | 28.7 |
| 2022 | 43.4°F | −1.2°F | 27.51 | 36.7 |
| 2023 | 47.5°F | +2.9°F | 27.29 | 26.4 |
| 2024 | 48.6°F | +4.0°F | 41.42 | 17.0 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +1.5°F | 40.43 | 16.8 |
Over 70 complete years from 1939 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00210355; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Austin's climate compare?
Austin is warmer than 92 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 113. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.6°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Austin is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Austin share this climate record?
12 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.
- Blooming Prairie, MN1,938 people · 15 mi N
- Brownsdale, MN648 people · 8 mi NE
- Stacyville, IA436 people · 18 mi SE
- Rose Creek, MN403 people · 8 mi SE
- Waltham, MN167 people · 12 mi NE
- Lansing, MN155 people · 6 mi N
- Mapleview, MN148 people · 2 mi N
- Carpenter, IA92 people · 17 mi S
- Sargeant, MN66 people · 14 mi NE
- Otranto, IA34 people · 13 mi S
- Mona, IA25 people · 12 mi S
- Toeterville, IA14 people · 15 mi S
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 Austin's climate
What is the coldest month in Austin?
January, with a normal high of 22°F and a normal low of 5°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Austin?
Yes: 43 inches in a normal year, falling on 26 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Austin?
June, with 5.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.10 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Austin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Austin in zone 4b in ZIP code 55912, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Austin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Austin?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Albert Lea, MN17 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Northwood, IA19 miles from this station, 43.0°F a year
- Grand Meadow, MN21 miles from this station, 42.9°F a year
- Osage, IA27 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made