Caledonia, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Caledonia's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 38.3 inches of precipitation and 45 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.5°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 27°C, 973 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCaledonia
- Station IDUSC00211198
- Location43.63°N 91.50°W
- Elevation1,166 ft (355 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,767
On October 22, the normal high in Caledonia is 56°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Caledonia.
- Jan 24° 8°
- Feb 29° 11°
- Mar 41° 23°
- Apr 56° 35°
- May 68° 47°
- Jun 77° 58°
- Jul 81° 62°
- Aug 79° 59°
- Sep 72° 51°
- Oct 59° 39°
- Nov 43° 26°
- Dec 30° 15°
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 Caledonia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (6.06 in), the least in January (1.12 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 8°F | 16.1°F | 1.12 | 10.4 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 29°F | 11°F | 20.1°F | 1.16 | 10.6 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 23°F | 32.1°F | 2.00 | 7.4 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 3.96 | 3.2 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 47°F | 57.6°F | 4.84 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 58°F | 67.7°F | 6.06 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 81°F | 62°F | 71.4°F | 4.31 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 59°F | 69.2°F | 4.47 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 51°F | 61.4°F | 4.04 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 59°F | 39°F | 48.7°F | 2.96 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 43°F | 26°F | 34.5°F | 1.80 | 2.8 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 30°F | 15°F | 22.3°F | 1.60 | 10.1 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 36°F | 45.5°F | 38.32 | 44.8 | 112 | 5 | 160 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −13°C | −8.8°C | 28 mm | 26 cm |
| February | −2°C | −11°C | −6.6°C | 29 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 51 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 101 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.2°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.8°C | 154 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 17°C | 21.9°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 4°C | 9.3°C | 75 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −3°C | 1.4°C | 46 mm | 7 cm |
| December | −1°C | −10°C | −5.4°C | 41 mm | 26 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211198; 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 Caledonia?
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 (10).
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 USC00211198.
When is the last frost in Caledonia?
In Caledonia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 28 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 291 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 187 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Caledonia in zone 5a in ZIP code 55921, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Caledonia's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (26 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 USC00211198; 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 Caledonia?
In a normal year in Caledonia, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 160 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 160a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 74high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 104°F, on July 26, 1894; the lowest is −37°F, on January 15, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 57.97 in; the snowiest season is 1958–59, with 91.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00211198; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00211198. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Caledonia?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Caledonia, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 75% | 2.9 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 69% | 2.8 |
| November | 67% | 1.9 |
| December | 62% | 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 Caledonia need?
A normal year in Caledonia brings 7,641 heating degree days, 42% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 587 cooling degree days, 35% 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 2,593 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,517 | 0 |
| February | 1,256 | 0 |
| March | 1,020 | 0 |
| April | 592 | 2 |
| May | 261 | 32 |
| June | 49 | 128 |
| July | 10 | 210 |
| August | 24 | 154 |
| September | 163 | 55 |
| October | 512 | 5 |
| November | 914 | 0 |
| December | 1,324 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,641 | 587 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211198. 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 Caledonia been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.5°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.5°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.6°F | +2.1°F | 30.37 | 34.2 |
| 2022 | 44.3°F | −1.2°F | 39.16 | 35.1 |
| 2023 | 48.1°F | +2.6°F | 26.78 | 34.1 |
| 2024 | 49.0°F | +3.5°F | 41.95 | 26.6 |
| 2025 | 46.5°F | +1.0°F | 34.24 | 28.1 |
Over 43 complete years from 1962 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.7°F per century (+0.32°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00211198; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Caledonia's climate compare?
Caledonia is warmer than 111 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 119. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.5°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Caledonia 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 Caledonia share this climate record?
Stoddard has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Stoddard, WI915 people · 15 mi E
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 Caledonia's climate
What is the coldest month in Caledonia?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Caledonia?
Yes: 45 inches in a normal year, falling on 28 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (10.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Caledonia?
June, with 6.06 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.12 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Caledonia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Caledonia in zone 5a in ZIP code 55921, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Caledonia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Caledonia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; 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
- Genoa, WI14 miles from this station, 48.5°F a year
- Mabel, MN15 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Rushford, MN17 miles from this station, 44.8°F a year
- La Crescent, MN19 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made