Lake City, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lake City's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 33.4 inches of precipitation and 74 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.4°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 27°C, 848 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLake City Experiment Farm
- Station IDUSC00204502
- Location44.31°N 85.20°W
- Elevation1,230 ft (375 m)
- Population834
On October 14, the normal high in Lake City is 58°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 47%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lake City.
- Jan 27° 10°
- Feb 30° 10°
- Mar 41° 17°
- Apr 53° 29°
- May 66° 41°
- Jun 76° 51°
- Jul 80° 55°
- Aug 79° 53°
- Sep 71° 45°
- Oct 57° 35°
- Nov 43° 26°
- Dec 33° 18°
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 Lake City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in October (3.67 in), the least in February (1.45 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 10°F | 18.6°F | 1.88 | 18.7 | 16 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 10°F | 19.9°F | 1.45 | 13.9 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 17°F | 28.9°F | 1.88 | 9.4 | 11 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 29°F | 41.3°F | 3.53 | 5.2 | 13 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 66°F | 41°F | 53.6°F | 3.47 | 0.3 | 13 | <1 | 5 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 76°F | 51°F | 63.4°F | 3.48 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 80°F | 55°F | 67.5°F | 3.11 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 53°F | 65.7°F | 3.42 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 45°F | 57.9°F | 3.04 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 35°F | 46.1°F | 3.67 | 1.4 | 15 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 26°F | 34.8°F | 2.52 | 9.0 | 14 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 33°F | 18°F | 25.0°F | 1.94 | 16.1 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 32°F | 43.6°F | 33.39 | 74.0 | 155 | 5 | 177 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −12°C | −7.4°C | 48 mm | 47 cm |
| February | −1°C | −12°C | −6.7°C | 37 mm | 35 cm |
| March | 5°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 48 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.2°C | 90 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 12.0°C | 88 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 25°C | 10°C | 17.4°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 93 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 6°C | −3°C | 1.6°C | 64 mm | 23 cm |
| December | 0°C | −8°C | −3.9°C | 49 mm | 41 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00204502; 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 Lake City?
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 (11).
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 USC00204502.
When is the last frost in Lake City?
In Lake City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 22 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 26 in half of years and before September 11 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 221 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 261 year in 10 before September 11; 9 in 10 before October 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 125 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 150 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 10 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lake City in zone 5a in ZIP code 49651, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lake City's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (30 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 USC00204502; 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 Lake City?
In a normal year in Lake City, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 177 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 155 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 177a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 68high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 155a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 28a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 106°F, on July 12, 1936; the lowest is −41°F, on February 11, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2008, with 41.70 in; the snowiest season is 1975–76, with 118.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00204502; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00204502. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lake City?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lake City, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (47%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 52% | 1.3 |
| February | 59% | 2.2 |
| March | 67% | 3.5 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 79% | 6.2 |
| August | 77% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.1 |
| October | 62% | 2.4 |
| November | 55% | 1.4 |
| December | 47% | 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 Lake City need?
A normal year in Lake City brings 8,086 heating degree days, 51% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 312 cooling degree days, 66% 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 1,971 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,438 | 0 |
| February | 1,261 | 0 |
| March | 1,119 | 0 |
| April | 712 | 1 |
| May | 368 | 15 |
| June | 112 | 66 |
| July | 45 | 121 |
| August | 63 | 85 |
| September | 237 | 24 |
| October | 586 | 2 |
| November | 906 | 0 |
| December | 1,238 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,086 | 312 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00204502. 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 Lake City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 44.3°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.4°F | +1.8°F | 37.32 | 62.8 |
| 2022 | 43.2°F | −0.4°F | 32.13 | 52.8 |
| 2023 | 46.0°F | +2.4°F | 26.49 | 51.2 |
| 2024 | 47.0°F | +3.4°F | 34.68 | 48.9 |
| 2025 | 44.3°F | +0.7°F | 27.49 | 69.3 |
Over 84 complete years from 1930 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.3°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00204502; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lake City's climate compare?
Lake City is warmer than 31 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 46. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.6°F is warmer than 14%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lake City 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 Lake City 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.
- Marion, MI798 people · 15 mi S
- McBain, MI639 people · 8 mi S
- Jennings, MI263 people · 5 mi W
- Falmouth, MI189 people · 8 mi SE
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 Lake City's climate
What is the coldest month in Lake City?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Lake City?
Yes: 74 inches in a normal year, falling on 59 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (18.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lake City?
October, with 3.67 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.45 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lake City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lake City in zone 5a in ZIP code 49651, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lake City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Lake City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 22; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cadillac, MI10 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Fife Lake, MI21 miles from this station, 43.0°F a year
- South Boardman, MI24 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Houghton Lake, MI27 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made