Forest Lake, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Forest Lake's normal year runs from 3°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 33.1 inches of precipitation and 52 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.2°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 29°C, 841 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationForest Lake (5 mi NE)
- Station IDUSC00212881
- Location45.33°N 92.90°W
- Elevation905 ft (276 m)
- Population20,700
On October 22, the normal high in Forest Lake is 57°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Forest Lake.
- Jan 24° 3°
- Feb 30° 6°
- Mar 43° 19°
- Apr 58° 33°
- May 70° 45°
- Jun 79° 56°
- Jul 83° 60°
- Aug 82° 58°
- Sep 74° 50°
- Oct 60° 37°
- Nov 43° 24°
- Dec 29° 11°
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 Forest Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 3°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.70 in), the least in January (0.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 3°F | 13.6°F | 0.88 | 9.6 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 6°F | 18.2°F | 0.90 | 9.3 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 43°F | 19°F | 31.0°F | 1.70 | 9.2 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 33°F | 45.1°F | 3.00 | 3.7 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 70°F | 45°F | 57.6°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 79°F | 56°F | 67.6°F | 4.48 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 83°F | 60°F | 71.8°F | 4.70 | 0.0 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 82°F | 58°F | 69.9°F | 4.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 74°F | 50°F | 61.9°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 37°F | 48.5°F | 2.91 | 0.6 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 24°F | 33.3°F | 1.80 | 7.4 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 29°F | 11°F | 19.8°F | 1.17 | 11.8 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 34°F | 44.9°F | 33.11 | 51.6 | 112 | 14 | 161 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −10.2°C | 22 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −1°C | −14°C | −7.7°C | 23 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 6°C | −7°C | −0.6°C | 43 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.3°C | 76 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.1°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 74 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 6°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 46 mm | 19 cm |
| December | −2°C | −12°C | −6.8°C | 30 mm | 30 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00212881; 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 Forest Lake?
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 USC00212881.
When is the last frost in Forest Lake?
In Forest Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 5 in half of years and before September 22 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 31 year in 10 after May 19; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 51 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Forest Lake in zone 4b in ZIP code 55025. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Forest Lake's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 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 USC00212881; 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 Forest Lake?
In a normal year in Forest Lake, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 161 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 112 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 161a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 112a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1958) is 104°F, on July 15, 1988; the lowest is −38°F, on January 9, 1977.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 44.44 in; the snowiest season is 2013–14, with 93.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00212881; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00212881. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Forest Lake?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Forest Lake, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 1.8 |
| February | 79% | 2.9 |
| March | 74% | 3.9 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 74% | 6.0 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 78% | 5.2 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 67% | 2.6 |
| November | 65% | 1.6 |
| December | 61% | 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 Forest Lake need?
A normal year in Forest Lake brings 7,917 heating degree days, 47% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 612 cooling degree days, 33% 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 2,620 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,593 | 0 |
| February | 1,310 | 0 |
| March | 1,056 | 0 |
| April | 599 | 2 |
| May | 258 | 29 |
| June | 51 | 127 |
| July | 9 | 220 |
| August | 19 | 171 |
| September | 154 | 59 |
| October | 516 | 5 |
| November | 951 | 0 |
| December | 1,401 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,917 | 612 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00212881. 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 Forest Lake been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.3°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.9°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.1°F | +1.2°F | 27.93 | 36.8 |
| 2022 | 42.4°F | −2.5°F | 27.88 | – |
| 2024 | 48.0°F | +3.1°F | 39.46 | 31.2 |
| 2025 | 45.3°F | +0.4°F | – | – |
Over 56 complete years from 1961 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.8°F per century (+0.38°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00212881; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Forest Lake's climate compare?
Forest Lake is warmer than 101 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 92. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.9°F is warmer than 19%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Forest Lake is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Forest Lake share this climate record?
4 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.
- Wyoming, MN8,173 people · 3 mi W
- Chisago City, MN5,953 people · 3 mi N
- Osceola, WI2,880 people · 10 mi E
- Martin Lake, MN1,203 people · 10 mi W
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 Forest Lake's climate
What is the coldest month in Forest Lake?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 3°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Forest Lake?
Yes: 52 inches in a normal year, falling on 36 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Forest Lake?
July, with 4.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Forest Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Forest Lake in zone 4b in ZIP code 55025. By the same method at Forest Lake's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Forest Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 19. Waiting until May 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- St. Croix Falls, WI14 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- Wild River State Park, MN15 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Cedar, MN19 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Stillwater, MN20 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made