Chatham, MI Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Chatham's primary NOAA station, CHATHAM 1 SE.
The climate verdict for Chatham
Chatham, Michigan has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 41°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 41°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 37.0"
- yearly precipitation total
- 124 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Chatham: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00054810 · Chatham, MI 41°F mean · 37.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 41°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Patten
- PRCP-MID 37.0"
- SWING-WIDE 48°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,031 HDD
- STN-1 USW00054810
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Patten, ME (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MI station list.
- Chatham (this station) 41°F
- Hot Long Falls Dam, ME 41°F
- Near Patten, ME 41°F
- Near Houlton, ME 41°F
- Cold York Pond, NH 40°F
Climate Living Index · Chatham
Chatham: 29/100 · grade F
Chatham publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Chatham, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 37.0 in · 2.0 from 35 in | 92/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 188 calendar days | 21/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 124 days/year | 9/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.6°F · 26.9° from 67.5°F | 6/100 · F |
Chatham · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Chatham is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 16.2°F and warmest-month mean 63.9°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 63.9°F
- Coldest month
- 16.2°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Chatham sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Chatham's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 94%
- Among 6,861 stations, Chatham sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 51st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 71%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Chatham is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Chatham compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Chatham's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F (-5°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 2.5" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 26°F (-3°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 1.9" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 35°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 2.1" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 47°F (8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 2.8" | 22.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 61°F (16°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.4" | 9.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 71°F (21°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 3.5" | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| July | 76°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.3" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| August | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.9" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| September | 67°F (19°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 4.0" | 1.6 | 0.1 |
| October | 53°F (12°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 4.4" | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 40°F (4°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 3.4" | 23.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 29°F (-2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 2.7" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 76°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 188 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 6°F near February 2.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 29, then returns to freezing around October 25, covering 188 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 17, when 62% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 13 at 32%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 173 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Chatham.
Where Chatham Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 188 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Chatham earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
19.6 days with precipitation
16.7 days with precipitation
13.5 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
13.6 days with precipitation
12.5 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
12.3 days with precipitation
16.8 days with precipitation
15.4 days with precipitation
19.1 days with precipitation
Chatham spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 26% of the annual total and December through February 19%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Chatham has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 47.7°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 4.4" and February 1.9". The three wettest months together take 32% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Chatham's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 173 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 37.0" between them, or roughly 0.21 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 28
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 27
50% probability date
Growing Season
124 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,031
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
163
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MI closest to Chatham on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (41°F here).
- Aitkin, MN 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Aspen, CO 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Centennial, WY 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Drummond, WI 41°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (37.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Racine, WI 37.0" · 0.0" off
- Pontiac, IL 37.0" · 0.0" off
- Haugan, MT 37.0" · 0.0" off
- Healdton, OK 37.0" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Chatham's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Chatham's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 9,031 annual heating degree days against 163 for cooling. Its 47.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 124 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Chatham's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 47.7°F. The annual average is 41°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Chatham's 37.0 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Chatham's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Chatham, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Chatham's climate
How much rain does Chatham get? ▼
How cold does Chatham get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Chatham? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Chatham's primary station: CHATHAM 1 SE (USW00054810). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 2614940). Match rule for Chatham: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Chatham comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.