Cass Lake, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cass Lake's normal year runs from −4°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 26.5 inches of precipitation and 49 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.4°C, January lows of −20°C, July highs of 26°C, 673 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCass Lake
- Station IDUSC00211374
- Location47.38°N 94.61°W
- Elevation1,296 ft (395 m)
- Population683
On October 23, the normal high in Cass Lake is 48°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cass Lake.
- Jan 18° -4°
- Feb 24° 0°
- Mar 37° 15°
- Apr 51° 29°
- May 65° 42°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 79° 58°
- Aug 77° 56°
- Sep 68° 47°
- Oct 52° 34°
- Nov 36° 20°
- Dec 23° 6°
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 Cass Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −4°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.07 in), the least in February (0.74 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | −4°F | 7.1°F | 0.76 | 9.1 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 24°F | 0°F | 11.6°F | 0.74 | 9.3 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 37°F | 15°F | 25.8°F | 1.24 | 6.2 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 29°F | 40.0°F | 1.98 | 5.6 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 65°F | 42°F | 53.6°F | 2.93 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 4.07 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 79°F | 58°F | 68.5°F | 3.74 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 77°F | 56°F | 66.6°F | 3.06 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 68°F | 47°F | 57.4°F | 2.91 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 52°F | 34°F | 43.0°F | 2.76 | 1.4 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 36°F | 20°F | 27.7°F | 1.29 | 5.8 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 23°F | 6°F | 14.2°F | 1.01 | 11.5 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 30°F | 40.0°F | 26.49 | 48.9 | 111 | 4 | 187 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −20°C | −13.8°C | 19 mm | 23 cm |
| February | −5°C | −18°C | −11.3°C | 19 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 3°C | −10°C | −3.4°C | 31 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 11°C | −2°C | 4.4°C | 50 mm | 14 cm |
| May | 18°C | 6°C | 12.0°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20°C | 8°C | 14.1°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11°C | 1°C | 6.1°C | 70 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 2°C | −7°C | −2.4°C | 33 mm | 15 cm |
| December | −5°C | −15°C | −9.9°C | 26 mm | 29 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211374; 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 Cass Lake?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00211374.
When is the last frost in Cass Lake?
In Cass Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 17 in half of years and after May 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 26 in half of years and before September 12 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 171 year in 10 after May 30; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 261 year in 10 before September 12; 9 in 10 before October 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 131 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 151 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 7 in half of springs and before October 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cass Lake in zone 3b in ZIP code 56633, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cass Lake's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (24 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 USC00211374; 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 Cass Lake?
In a normal year in Cass Lake, 4 days a year reach 90°F, 187 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 187a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 98high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 104°F, on July 7, 1988; the lowest is −46°F, on December 20, 1983.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 34.91 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 93.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00211374; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00211374. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cass Lake?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cass Lake, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 1.6 |
| February | 80% | 2.8 |
| March | 75% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 72% | 5.9 |
| July | 79% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.2 |
| September | 72% | 3.8 |
| October | 65% | 2.4 |
| November | 62% | 1.4 |
| December | 62% | 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 Cass Lake need?
A normal year in Cass Lake brings 9,456 heating degree days, 76% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 375 cooling degree days, 59% 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 2,027 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,795 | 0 |
| February | 1,495 | 0 |
| March | 1,217 | 0 |
| April | 752 | 0 |
| May | 368 | 16 |
| June | 104 | 73 |
| July | 37 | 147 |
| August | 60 | 109 |
| September | 255 | 29 |
| October | 683 | 1 |
| November | 1,118 | 0 |
| December | 1,573 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,456 | 375 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211374. 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 Cass Lake been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 40.9°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 40.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43.0°F | +3.0°F | 21.86 | 49.2 |
| 2022 | 38.2°F | −1.8°F | 23.87 | 71.2 |
| 2023 | 43.0°F | +3.0°F | 21.21 | 55.2 |
| 2024 | 43.9°F | +3.9°F | 27.89 | 30.5 |
| 2025 | 40.9°F | +0.9°F | 22.02 | 56.3 |
Over 55 complete years from 1958 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.5°F per century (+0.31°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00211374; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cass Lake's climate compare?
Cass Lake is warmer than 27 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 22. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.0°F is warmer than 6%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cass Lake 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 Cass Lake share this climate record?
2 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.
- Bemidji, MN15,733 people · 14 mi NW
- Wilton, MN266 people · 20 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 Cass Lake's climate
What is the coldest month in Cass Lake?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of −4°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Cass Lake?
Yes: 49 inches in a normal year, falling on 35 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Cass Lake?
June, with 4.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.74 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cass Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cass Lake in zone 3b in ZIP code 56633, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Cass Lake's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Cass Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 17; in one year in ten it comes after May 30. Waiting until May 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Walker, MN21 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Blackduck, MN21 miles from this station, 37.7°F a year
- Leech Lake, MN21 miles from this station, 40.7°F a year
- Itasca University Of Minn, MN29 miles from this station, 38.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made