Big Rapids, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Big Rapids's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 37.9 inches of precipitation and 61 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.3°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 27°C, 963 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBig Rapids Water Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00200779
- Location43.71°N 85.48°W
- Elevation898 ft (274 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population8,565
On October 14, the normal high in Big Rapids is 59°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 47%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Big Rapids.
- Jan 28° 13°
- Feb 31° 12°
- Mar 42° 20°
- Apr 55° 31°
- May 68° 43°
- Jun 77° 53°
- Jul 81° 57°
- Aug 79° 55°
- Sep 72° 47°
- Oct 58° 36°
- Nov 44° 28°
- Dec 33° 19°
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 Big Rapids each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.24 in), the least in February (1.97 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 13°F | 20.4°F | 2.43 | 17.8 | 17 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 12°F | 21.8°F | 1.97 | 16.0 | 13 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 42°F | 20°F | 30.9°F | 2.57 | 7.7 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 31°F | 42.9°F | 3.95 | 1.5 | 14 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 43°F | 55.4°F | 3.76 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 53°F | 65.1°F | 3.36 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 81°F | 57°F | 69.2°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 55°F | 67.0°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 47°F | 59.3°F | 3.02 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 58°F | 36°F | 47.2°F | 3.76 | 0.2 | 15 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 28°F | 35.8°F | 3.05 | 3.8 | 14 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 33°F | 19°F | 26.3°F | 2.33 | 14.3 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 35°F | 45.1°F | 37.92 | 61.3 | 155 | 8 | 168 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −11°C | −6.4°C | 62 mm | 45 cm |
| February | 0°C | −11°C | −5.7°C | 50 mm | 41 cm |
| March | 6°C | −7°C | −0.6°C | 65 mm | 20 cm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 100 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.0°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 96 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −2°C | 2.1°C | 77 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 1°C | −7°C | −3.2°C | 59 mm | 36 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00200779; 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 Big Rapids?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (11).
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 USC00200779.
When is the last frost in Big Rapids?
In Big Rapids, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 13 in half of years and after May 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 18 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
- May 131 year in 10 after May 28; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 142 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Big Rapids in zone 5b in ZIP code 49307, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Big Rapids's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Michigan · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00200779; 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 Big Rapids?
In a normal year in Big Rapids, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 168 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 155 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
- 168a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 58high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 155a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 19a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 103°F, on July 30, 1916; the lowest is −30°F, on January 30, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2006, with 48.65 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 115.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00200779; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00200779. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Big Rapids?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Big Rapids, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (50%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 52% | 1.4 |
| February | 59% | 2.3 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 76% | 4.2 |
| October | 64% | 2.6 |
| November | 59% | 1.6 |
| December | 50% | 1.1 |
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 Big Rapids need?
A normal year in Big Rapids brings 7,621 heating degree days, 42% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 404 cooling degree days, 55% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,201 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,381 | 0 |
| February | 1,210 | 0 |
| March | 1,057 | 0 |
| April | 666 | 1 |
| May | 319 | 21 |
| June | 83 | 86 |
| July | 25 | 155 |
| August | 45 | 107 |
| September | 203 | 31 |
| October | 554 | 2 |
| November | 876 | 0 |
| December | 1,201 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,621 | 404 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00200779. 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 Big Rapids been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.5°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.1°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 45.5°F | +0.4°F | 27.94 | 63.5 |
Over 98 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.3°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00200779; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Big Rapids's climate compare?
Big Rapids is warmer than 45 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 107. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.1°F is warmer than 20%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Big Rapids 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 Big Rapids share this climate record?
10 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.
- Canadian Lakes, MI2,701 people · 12 mi SE
- Reed City, MI2,531 people · 11 mi N
- Evart, MI1,782 people · 17 mi NE
- Baldwin, MI1,020 people · 23 mi NW
- Morley, MI527 people · 15 mi S
- Mecosta, MI475 people · 14 mi SE
- Barryton, MI411 people · 17 mi E
- Hersey, MI365 people · 10 mi N
- Stanwood, MI209 people · 9 mi S
- Paris, MI172 people · 5 mi N
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 Big Rapids's climate
What is the coldest month in Big Rapids?
January, with a normal high of 28°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Big Rapids?
Yes: 61 inches in a normal year, falling on 44 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (17.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Big Rapids?
August, with 4.24 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.97 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Big Rapids in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Big Rapids in zone 5b in ZIP code 49307, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Big Rapids's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Big Rapids?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 28. Waiting until May 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hesperia, MI32 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Fremont, MI33 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Mount Pleasant, MI37 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Greenville, MI37 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made