Frankfort, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Frankfort's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 34.3 inches of precipitation and 93 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.1°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 25°C, 872 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFrankfort (2 mi NE)
- Station IDUSC00202984
- Location44.65°N 86.21°W
- Elevation948 ft (289 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population1,276
On October 23, the normal high in Frankfort is 53°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 43%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Frankfort.
- Jan 29° 19°
- Feb 31° 19°
- Mar 40° 25°
- Apr 52° 35°
- May 64° 45°
- Jun 73° 55°
- Jul 77° 60°
- Aug 76° 61°
- Sep 69° 54°
- Oct 56° 43°
- Nov 44° 33°
- Dec 34° 24°
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 Frankfort each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in October (3.99 in), the least in February (1.72 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 19°F | 23.6°F | 2.19 | 27.2 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 31°F | 19°F | 24.8°F | 1.72 | 19.4 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 40°F | 25°F | 32.5°F | 1.98 | 12.8 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 35°F | 43.2°F | 3.06 | 3.3 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 45°F | 54.4°F | 3.08 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 73°F | 55°F | 64.0°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 77°F | 60°F | 68.9°F | 3.04 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 76°F | 61°F | 68.3°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 69°F | 54°F | 61.4°F | 3.75 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 43°F | 49.6°F | 3.99 | 0.3 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 33°F | 38.4°F | 2.94 | 6.4 | 12 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 34°F | 24°F | 28.9°F | 2.23 | 23.5 | 13 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 39°F | 46.5°F | 34.34 | 93.0 | 133 | 1 | 138 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −7°C | −4.7°C | 56 mm | 69 cm |
| February | −1°C | −7°C | −4.0°C | 44 mm | 49 cm |
| March | 4°C | −4°C | 0.3°C | 50 mm | 33 cm |
| April | 11°C | 1°C | 6.2°C | 78 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 18°C | 7°C | 12.4°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23°C | 13°C | 17.8°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 16°C | 20.5°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24°C | 16°C | 20.2°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 12°C | 16.3°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 6°C | 9.8°C | 101 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | 0°C | 3.6°C | 75 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 1°C | −4°C | −1.7°C | 57 mm | 60 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00202984; 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 Frankfort?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00202984.
When is the last frost in Frankfort?
In Frankfort, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 26 in half of years and before October 7 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 20; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 261 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 203 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before November 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Frankfort in zone 6b in ZIP code 49628, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Frankfort's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (20 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 USC00202984; 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 Frankfort?
In a normal year in Frankfort, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 138 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 138a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 58high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 35a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1898) is 99°F, on July 7, 1921; the lowest is −32°F, on February 11, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1916, with 43.03 in; the snowiest season is 1984–85, with 166.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00202984; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00202984. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Frankfort?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Frankfort, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (46%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 48% | 1.1 |
| February | 56% | 2.0 |
| March | 65% | 3.4 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 63% | 2.4 |
| November | 55% | 1.4 |
| December | 46% | 0.9 |
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 Frankfort need?
A normal year in Frankfort brings 7,107 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 396 cooling degree days, 56% 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 2,257 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,285 | 0 |
| February | 1,124 | 0 |
| March | 1,009 | 0 |
| April | 655 | 1 |
| May | 343 | 14 |
| June | 96 | 66 |
| July | 22 | 143 |
| August | 24 | 126 |
| September | 150 | 43 |
| October | 482 | 3 |
| November | 798 | 0 |
| December | 1,121 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,107 | 396 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00202984. 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 Frankfort been warmer than normal lately?
Over 56 complete years from 1907 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Frankfort's climate compare?
Frankfort is warmer than 64 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 67. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.5°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Frankfort 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 Frankfort share this climate record?
5 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.
- Benzonia, MI564 people · 6 mi E
- Honor, MI334 people · 9 mi E
- Elberta, MI316 people · 2 mi SW
- Crystal Downs Country Club, MI61 people · 4 mi N
- Pilgrim, MI8 people · 2 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 Frankfort's climate
What is the coldest month in Frankfort?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Frankfort?
Yes: 93 inches in a normal year, falling on 49 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (27.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Frankfort?
October, with 3.99 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Frankfort in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Frankfort in zone 6b in ZIP code 49628, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Frankfort's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Frankfort?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 20. Waiting until May 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Beulah, MI9 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Maple City, MI23 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Traverse City Munson, MI29 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Manistee, MI30 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made