Granite Falls, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Granite Falls's normal year runs from 3°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 28.6 inches of precipitation and 52 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 29°C, 727 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGranite Falls
- Station IDUSC00213311
- Location44.81°N 95.55°W
- Elevation930 ft (284 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,678
On October 23, the normal high in Granite Falls is 56°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Granite Falls.
- Jan 24° 3°
- Feb 29° 7°
- Mar 42° 20°
- Apr 57° 33°
- May 71° 45°
- Jun 80° 55°
- Jul 85° 60°
- Aug 82° 58°
- Sep 75° 48°
- Oct 60° 35°
- Nov 43° 22°
- Dec 29° 10°
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 Granite Falls each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 3°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.56 in), the least in January (0.81 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 3°F | 13.4°F | 0.81 | 9.4 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 7°F | 17.8°F | 0.83 | 11.7 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 42°F | 20°F | 30.8°F | 1.47 | 7.9 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 33°F | 45.2°F | 2.41 | 3.9 | 7 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 71°F | 45°F | 58.0°F | 3.50 | 0.1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 80°F | 55°F | 67.8°F | 4.56 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 85°F | 60°F | 72.4°F | 3.27 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 82°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 3.81 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 75°F | 48°F | 61.6°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 35°F | 47.5°F | 2.35 | 0.8 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 22°F | 32.5°F | 1.37 | 6.6 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 10°F | 19.2°F | 1.08 | 11.1 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 33°F | 44.7°F | 28.64 | 51.5 | 85 | 20 | 171 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −10.3°C | 21 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −2°C | −14°C | −7.9°C | 21 mm | 30 cm |
| March | 6°C | −7°C | −0.7°C | 37 mm | 20 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.3°C | 61 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 22°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 13°C | 19.9°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 15°C | 22.4°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 14°C | 20.9°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 9°C | 16.4°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 2°C | 8.6°C | 60 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 6°C | −5°C | 0.3°C | 35 mm | 17 cm |
| December | −2°C | −12°C | −7.1°C | 27 mm | 28 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00213311; 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 Granite Falls?
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 (7).
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 USC00213311.
When is the last frost in Granite Falls?
In Granite Falls, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 17 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 41 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 17; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 150 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 168 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Granite Falls in zone 4b in ZIP code 56241, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00213311; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Granite Falls?
In a normal year in Granite Falls, 20 days a year reach 90°F, 171 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 85 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 171a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 76high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 85a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00213311.
How sunny is Granite Falls?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Granite Falls, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 1.9 |
| February | 80% | 3.0 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.2 |
| October | 71% | 2.8 |
| November | 70% | 1.9 |
| December | 67% | 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 Granite Falls need?
A normal year in Granite Falls brings 8,003 heating degree days, 49% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 629 cooling degree days, 31% 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 2,634 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,599 | 0 |
| February | 1,321 | 0 |
| March | 1,059 | 0 |
| April | 598 | 2 |
| May | 250 | 33 |
| June | 44 | 126 |
| July | 7 | 236 |
| August | 21 | 167 |
| September | 164 | 60 |
| October | 546 | 5 |
| November | 974 | 0 |
| December | 1,421 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,003 | 629 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00213311. 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 Granite Falls been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 48.9°F, 4.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.8°F | +3.1°F | 25.64 | 41.0 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | −0.3°F | 25.88 | 58.8 |
| 2023 | 47.0°F | +2.3°F | 29.00 | 60.5 |
| 2024 | 48.9°F | +4.2°F | 33.30 | 39.2 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00213311. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Granite Falls's climate compare?
Granite Falls is warmer than 96 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 44. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.7°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Granite Falls 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 Granite Falls share this climate record?
7 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.
- Clara City, MN1,390 people · 13 mi NE
- Sacred Heart, MN494 people · 10 mi E
- Wood Lake, MN373 people · 11 mi S
- Maynard, MN304 people · 8 mi NE
- Hanley Falls, MN238 people · 9 mi S
- Echo, MN235 people · 15 mi SE
- Hazel Run, MN53 people · 9 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 Granite Falls's climate
What is the coldest month in Granite Falls?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 3°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Granite Falls?
Yes: 52 inches in a normal year, falling on 24 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (11.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Granite Falls?
June, with 4.56 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.81 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Granite Falls in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Granite Falls in zone 4b in ZIP code 56241, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Granite Falls?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; 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
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Montevideo, MN12 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Marshall, MN26 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Milan, MN28 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Redwood Falls, MN30 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made