Crookston, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Crookston's normal year runs from −4°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 22.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.5°C, January lows of −20°C, July highs of 27°C, 570 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCrookston NW Experiment Station
- Station IDUSC00211891
- Location47.82°N 96.61°W
- Elevation891 ft (272 m)
- Population7,269
On October 14, the normal high in Crookston is 55°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Crookston.
- Jan 16° -4°
- Feb 20° 0°
- Mar 34° 15°
- Apr 51° 30°
- May 67° 43°
- Jun 76° 54°
- Jul 80° 58°
- Aug 80° 55°
- Sep 70° 46°
- Oct 54° 33°
- Nov 36° 19°
- Dec 22° 5°
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 Crookston each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −4°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.15 in), the least in January (0.51 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°F | −4°F | 6.1°F | 0.51 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 20°F | 0°F | 10.1°F | 0.53 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 34°F | 15°F | 24.4°F | 0.73 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 30°F | 40.7°F | 1.27 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 67°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 2.75 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 76°F | 54°F | 65.1°F | 4.15 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 80°F | 58°F | 69.1°F | 3.27 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 80°F | 55°F | 67.4°F | 2.97 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 70°F | 46°F | 58.2°F | 2.60 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 33°F | 43.7°F | 2.09 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 36°F | 19°F | 27.5°F | 0.82 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 22°F | 5°F | 13.8°F | 0.74 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 51°F | 30°F | 40.1°F | 22.43 | 91 | 7 | 186 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −9°C | −20°C | −14.4°C | 13 mm |
| February | −6°C | −18°C | −12.2°C | 13 mm |
| March | 1°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 19 mm |
| April | 11°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 32 mm |
| May | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 70 mm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 105 mm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 83 mm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 75 mm |
| September | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 66 mm |
| October | 12°C | 1°C | 6.5°C | 53 mm |
| November | 2°C | −7°C | −2.5°C | 21 mm |
| December | −5°C | −15°C | −10.1°C | 19 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Red Lake Falls (16 miles away), gets 50 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211891; 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 Crookston?
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 (8).
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 USC00211891.
When is the last frost in Crookston?
In Crookston, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 11 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 14 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 111 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 138 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 157 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 1 in half of springs and before October 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Crookston in zone 4a in ZIP code 56716, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Crookston's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −30°F (24 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00211891; 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 Crookston?
In a normal year in Crookston, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 186 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 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
- 186a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 104high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1890) is 105°F, on July 12, 1936; the lowest is −51°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 30.83 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 100.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00211891; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00211891. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Crookston?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Crookston, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (86%) and November the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 1.7 |
| February | 86% | 3.0 |
| March | 78% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 74% | 6.1 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 80% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 3.9 |
| October | 68% | 2.5 |
| November | 65% | 1.5 |
| December | 66% | 1.2 |
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 Crookston need?
A normal year in Crookston brings 9,464 heating degree days, 76% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 422 cooling degree days, 54% 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 2,152 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,826 | 0 |
| February | 1,537 | 0 |
| March | 1,259 | 0 |
| April | 729 | 0 |
| May | 341 | 21 |
| June | 84 | 89 |
| July | 29 | 155 |
| August | 46 | 120 |
| September | 238 | 34 |
| October | 663 | 2 |
| November | 1,125 | 0 |
| December | 1,587 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,464 | 422 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00211891. 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 Crookston been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 37.7°F, 2.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 40.1°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42.9°F | +2.8°F | 17.09 |
| 2022 | 37.7°F | −2.4°F | 18.28 |
Over 108 complete years from 1895 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00211891; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Crookston's climate compare?
Crookston is warmer than 29 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 1. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.1°F is warmer than 6%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Crookston 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 Crookston share this climate record?
Reynolds 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.
- Reynolds, ND273 people · 25 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 Crookston's climate
What is the coldest month in Crookston?
January, with a normal high of 16°F and a normal low of −4°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Crookston?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Crookston's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Red Lake Falls (16 miles away), records 50 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Crookston?
June, with 4.15 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.51 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Crookston in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Crookston in zone 4a in ZIP code 56716, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Crookston's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −30°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Crookston?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 11; in one year in ten it comes after May 25. Waiting until May 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Red Lake Falls, MN16 miles from this station, 39.8°F a year
- Grand Forks University (NWS), ND24 miles from this station, 40.5°F a year
- Warren, MN27 miles from this station, 39.1°F a year
- Grand Forks, ND28 miles from this station, 39.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made