Coldwater, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Coldwater's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 39.1 inches of precipitation and 43 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.9°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 994 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColdwater St School
- Station IDUSC00201675
- Location41.96°N 84.99°W
- Elevation984 ft (300 m)
- Population14,314
On October 14, the normal high in Coldwater is 62°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 39%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Coldwater.
- Jan 31° 16°
- Feb 34° 18°
- Mar 45° 26°
- Apr 58° 36°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 82° 60°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 73° 51°
- Oct 61° 40°
- Nov 47° 31°
- Dec 36° 22°
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 Coldwater each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.41 in), the least in March (2.22 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 16°F | 23.4°F | 2.53 | 13.1 | 14 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 34°F | 18°F | 25.9°F | 2.30 | 10.7 | 12 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 26°F | 35.3°F | 2.22 | 4.9 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 36°F | 47.0°F | 3.42 | 1.1 | 13 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.2°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.6°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 82°F | 60°F | 70.9°F | 4.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 68.9°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 51°F | 62.0°F | 3.27 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 40°F | 50.5°F | 3.66 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 31°F | 38.5°F | 2.75 | 3.6 | 13 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 36°F | 22°F | 28.6°F | 2.38 | 9.2 | 14 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 38°F | 48.1°F | 39.12 | 42.7 | 145 | 7 | 136 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −9°C | −4.8°C | 64 mm | 33 cm |
| February | 1°C | −8°C | −3.4°C | 58 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.8°C | 56 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 87 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.8°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.5°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 5°C | 10.3°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.6°C | 70 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 2°C | −6°C | −1.9°C | 60 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00201675; 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 Coldwater?
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 (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 USC00201675.
When is the last frost in Coldwater?
In Coldwater, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 13 in half of years and before September 30 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 21 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 131 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 163 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 187 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Coldwater in zone 6a in ZIP code 49036, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Coldwater's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (27 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 USC00201675; 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 Coldwater?
In a normal year in Coldwater, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 136 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 145 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 136a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 52high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 145a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 108°F, on July 24, 1934; the lowest is −29°F, on January 31, 2019.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 47.12 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 84.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00201675; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00201675. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Coldwater?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Coldwater, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 58% | 1.6 |
| February | 63% | 2.5 |
| March | 65% | 3.5 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 78% | 4.4 |
| October | 69% | 2.9 |
| November | 65% | 1.9 |
| December | 56% | 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 Coldwater need?
A normal year in Coldwater brings 6,704 heating degree days, 25% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 567 cooling degree days, 37% 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 2,638 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,289 | 0 |
| February | 1,095 | 0 |
| March | 921 | 1 |
| April | 543 | 3 |
| May | 246 | 37 |
| June | 49 | 127 |
| July | 12 | 195 |
| August | 24 | 145 |
| September | 146 | 54 |
| October | 457 | 6 |
| November | 794 | 0 |
| December | 1,128 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,704 | 567 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00201675. 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 Coldwater been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.8°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.7°F | +1.6°F | 45.10 | 19.3 |
| 2022 | 47.9°F | −0.2°F | 37.67 | 36.5 |
| 2023 | 50.1°F | +2.0°F | 37.14 | 29.8 |
| 2024 | 51.6°F | +3.5°F | 46.87 | 17.5 |
| 2025 | 48.8°F | +0.6°F | 33.97 | 36.0 |
Over 88 complete years from 1898 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00201675; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Coldwater's climate compare?
Coldwater is warmer than 101 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 113. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.1°F is warmer than 32%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Coldwater 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 Coldwater share this climate record?
9 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.
- Union City, MI1,730 people · 11 mi NW
- Homer, MI1,616 people · 16 mi NE
- Quincy, MI1,566 people · 6 mi E
- Athens, MI957 people · 15 mi NW
- Tekonsha, MI725 people · 9 mi N
- Orland, IN392 people · 19 mi SW
- Burlington, MI305 people · 11 mi NW
- Sherwood, MI287 people · 13 mi W
- Wall Lake, IN256 people · 19 mi SW
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 Coldwater's climate
What is the coldest month in Coldwater?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Coldwater?
Yes: 43 inches in a normal year, falling on 28 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Coldwater?
August, with 4.41 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is March with 2.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Coldwater in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Coldwater in zone 6a in ZIP code 49036, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Coldwater's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Coldwater?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hillsdale, MI18 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Angola, IN21 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Battle Creek, MI27 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Lagrange, IN30 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made