Harbor Beach, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Harbor Beach's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 34.0 inches of precipitation and 47 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 25°C, 863 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHarbor Beach (1 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSC00203585
- Location43.83°N 82.64°W
- Elevation595 ft (181 m)
- Population1,566
On October 23, the normal high in Harbor Beach is 55°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 45%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Harbor Beach.
- Jan 29° 16°
- Feb 30° 16°
- Mar 39° 23°
- Apr 49° 33°
- May 61° 44°
- Jun 71° 54°
- Jul 77° 60°
- Aug 76° 59°
- Sep 70° 52°
- Oct 58° 42°
- Nov 45° 32°
- Dec 34° 23°
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 Harbor Beach each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in April (3.60 in), the least in March (1.90 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 16°F | 22.3°F | 2.40 | 15.4 | 16 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 30°F | 16°F | 22.9°F | 2.05 | 11.2 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 39°F | 23°F | 31.0°F | 1.90 | 6.0 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 49°F | 33°F | 41.1°F | 3.60 | 1.4 | 12 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 61°F | 44°F | 52.2°F | 3.20 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 71°F | 54°F | 62.2°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 77°F | 60°F | 68.1°F | 3.03 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 76°F | 59°F | 67.4°F | 3.30 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 70°F | 52°F | 61.0°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 58°F | 42°F | 49.7°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 32°F | 38.4°F | 2.64 | 1.7 | 13 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 34°F | 23°F | 28.6°F | 2.27 | 11.5 | 15 | <1 | 28 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 38°F | 45.4°F | 33.97 | 47.2 | 140 | 3 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −9°C | −5.4°C | 61 mm | 39 cm |
| February | −1°C | −9°C | −5.1°C | 52 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 4°C | −5°C | −0.6°C | 48 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 10°C | 1°C | 5.1°C | 91 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 16°C | 7°C | 11.2°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 21°C | 12°C | 16.8°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 15°C | 20.1°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24°C | 15°C | 19.7°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 11°C | 16.1°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 5°C | 9.8°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | 0°C | 3.6°C | 67 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 1°C | −5°C | −1.9°C | 58 mm | 29 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00203585; 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 Harbor Beach?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00203585.
When is the last frost in Harbor Beach?
In Harbor Beach, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 24 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 17; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 241 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 198 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Harbor Beach in zone 6a in ZIP code 48441, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Harbor Beach's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (27 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 Michigan · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00203585; 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 Harbor Beach?
In a normal year in Harbor Beach, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 140 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 140a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1899) is 105°F, on July 10, 1936; the lowest is −22°F, on February 9, 1934.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1959, with 44.42 in; the snowiest season is 1966–67, with 141.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00203585; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00203585. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Harbor Beach?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Harbor Beach, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (48%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 50% | 1.3 |
| February | 54% | 2.0 |
| March | 63% | 3.3 |
| April | 68% | 4.5 |
| May | 70% | 5.3 |
| June | 76% | 6.0 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.2 |
| September | 76% | 4.1 |
| October | 65% | 2.5 |
| November | 57% | 1.6 |
| December | 48% | 1.0 |
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 Harbor Beach need?
A normal year in Harbor Beach brings 7,461 heating degree days, 39% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 352 cooling degree days, 61% 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 2,081 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,324 | 0 |
| February | 1,177 | 0 |
| March | 1,056 | 0 |
| April | 718 | 1 |
| May | 410 | 12 |
| June | 140 | 58 |
| July | 34 | 130 |
| August | 35 | 109 |
| September | 161 | 40 |
| October | 479 | 3 |
| November | 800 | 0 |
| December | 1,128 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,461 | 352 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00203585. 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 Harbor Beach been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.4°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.3°F | +2.9°F | 32.72 | 37.1 |
| 2022 | 46.3°F | +0.9°F | 27.14 | 38.9 |
| 2023 | 48.0°F | +2.6°F | 32.67 | 41.4 |
| 2024 | 49.3°F | +3.9°F | 33.01 | 33.5 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +0.8°F | 27.08 | 42.4 |
Over 90 complete years from 1902 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.1°F per century (+0.17°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00203585; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Harbor Beach's climate compare?
Harbor Beach is warmer than 47 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.4°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Harbor Beach 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 Harbor Beach share this climate record?
2 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.
- Minden City, MI179 people · 13 mi SW
- Forestville, MI84 people · 12 mi S
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 Harbor Beach's climate
What is the coldest month in Harbor Beach?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Harbor Beach?
Yes: 47 inches in a normal year, falling on 31 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (15.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Harbor Beach?
April, with 3.60 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is March with 1.90 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Harbor Beach in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Harbor Beach in zone 6a in ZIP code 48441, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Harbor Beach's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Harbor Beach?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Port Hope, MI15 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Bad Axe, MI17 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Port Austin, MI22 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Filion (5 mi NNW), MI22 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made