Hillsdale, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hillsdale's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 39.5 inches of precipitation and 44 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.8°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,004 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHillsdale
- Station IDUSC00203823
- Location41.94°N 84.64°W
- Elevation1,080 ft (329 m)
- Population7,983
On October 23, the normal high in Hillsdale is 58°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 41%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hillsdale.
- Jan 31° 15°
- Feb 34° 16°
- Mar 44° 25°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 83° 60°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 74° 50°
- Oct 61° 40°
- Nov 47° 30°
- Dec 36° 22°
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 Hillsdale each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.56 in), the least in February (2.25 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 15°F | 22.8°F | 2.77 | 13.3 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 34°F | 16°F | 25.1°F | 2.25 | 11.5 | 12 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 25°F | 34.4°F | 2.40 | 5.2 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 3.68 | 1.5 | 14 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 4.56 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.5°F | 3.91 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 83°F | 60°F | 71.2°F | 3.62 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 69.2°F | 3.93 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 50°F | 62.1°F | 3.58 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 40°F | 50.4°F | 3.43 | 0.1 | 13 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 30°F | 38.7°F | 2.97 | 3.4 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 36°F | 22°F | 28.7°F | 2.44 | 9.1 | 14 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 38°F | 47.9°F | 39.54 | 44.1 | 148 | 9 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −9°C | −5.1°C | 70 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 1°C | −9°C | −3.8°C | 57 mm | 29 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 61 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 93 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.5°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.7°C | 75 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 2°C | −6°C | −1.8°C | 62 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00203823; 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 Hillsdale?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00203823.
When is the last frost in Hillsdale?
In Hillsdale, 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 12 in half of years and before September 29 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 121 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 161 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 184 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hillsdale in zone 6a in ZIP code 49242, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hillsdale's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 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 USC00203823; 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 Hillsdale?
In a normal year in Hillsdale, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 148 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 52high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 148a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1891) is 107°F, on July 14, 1936; the lowest is −22°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 51.41 in; the snowiest season is 1981–82, with 91.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00203823; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00203823. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hillsdale?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hillsdale, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 58% | 1.6 |
| February | 63% | 2.5 |
| March | 65% | 3.5 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 78% | 4.4 |
| October | 69% | 2.9 |
| November | 65% | 1.9 |
| December | 56% | 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 Hillsdale need?
A normal year in Hillsdale brings 6,798 heating degree days, 27% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 594 cooling degree days, 35% 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 2,649 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,307 | 0 |
| February | 1,116 | 0 |
| March | 949 | 1 |
| April | 564 | 4 |
| May | 252 | 37 |
| June | 54 | 129 |
| July | 13 | 205 |
| August | 24 | 154 |
| September | 146 | 59 |
| October | 460 | 6 |
| November | 791 | 0 |
| December | 1,124 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,798 | 594 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00203823. 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 Hillsdale been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.8°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.9°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.9°F | +2.0°F | 44.65 | – |
| 2022 | 48.1°F | +0.2°F | 39.19 | 30.8 |
| 2023 | 50.5°F | +2.6°F | 33.10 | 28.6 |
| 2024 | 52.1°F | +4.2°F | 38.22 | 21.0 |
| 2025 | 48.8°F | +0.9°F | 32.56 | 35.1 |
Over 101 complete years from 1890 to 2025, 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 USC00203823; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hillsdale's climate compare?
Hillsdale is warmer than 97 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 116. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.9°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hillsdale 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 Hillsdale share this climate record?
8 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.
- Jonesville, MI2,167 people · 3 mi NW
- Lake LeAnn, MI1,522 people · 14 mi NE
- Litchfield, MI1,390 people · 9 mi NW
- Reading, MI1,080 people · 9 mi SW
- Pittsford, MI711 people · 10 mi SE
- Hanover, MI474 people · 12 mi N
- North Adams, MI466 people · 6 mi E
- Allen, MI227 people · 7 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 Hillsdale's climate
What is the coldest month in Hillsdale?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Hillsdale?
Yes: 44 inches in a normal year, falling on 35 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hillsdale?
May, with 4.56 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.25 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hillsdale in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hillsdale in zone 6a in ZIP code 49242, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hillsdale's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Hillsdale?
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
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Coldwater, MI18 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Montpelier, OH24 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Jackson, MI25 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Morenci, MI27 miles from this station, 48.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made