Leech Lake, MN Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Leech Lake's primary NOAA station, LEECH LAKE.
The climate verdict for Leech Lake
Winter sets the terms in Leech Lake, Minnesota. A pronounced 61.4°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 41°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 41°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 26.6"
- annual precipitation · 48" snow
- 146 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Leech Lake: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00214652 · Leech Lake, MN 41°F mean · 26.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 41°F
- RANK-COOL #480
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Wilton
- PRCP-MID 26.6"
- SWING-WIDE 61°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,189 HDD
- STN-1 USC00214652
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Wilton, ND ( -0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MN station list.
- Leech Lake (this station) 41°F
- Cold Wolf Point, MT 41°F
- Hot Streeter, ND 41°F
- Near Wilton, ND 41°F
- Near Raymond Border, MT 41°F
Leech Lake sits in Minnesota, the #3 coldest U.S. state at 42.2°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Leech Lake
Leech Lake: 26/100 · grade F
Leech Lake publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Leech Lake, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 26.6 in · 8.4 from 35 in | 70/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 181 calendar days | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 146 days/year | 22/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 48.2 inches/year | 22/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.7°F · 26.8° from 67.5°F | 6/100 · F |
Leech Lake · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Leech Lake is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 7.7°F and warmest-month mean 69.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 69.1°F
- Coldest month
- 7.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Leech Lake sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Leech Lake's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 93%
- Among 6,861 stations, Leech Lake sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 36th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Leech Lake is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Leech Lake compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Leech Lake's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Leech Lake's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 111 complete annual observations from 1890 to 2025, LEECH LAKE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Leech Lake primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F (-8°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 0.7" | 9.3" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 24°F (-5°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 0.7" | 7.2" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 37°F (3°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 1.1" | 6.8" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 52°F (11°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.9" | 5.9" | 19.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.9" | 0.0" | 3.4 | 0.2 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| July | 80°F (27°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| August | 78°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 3.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 3.1" | 0.0" | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| October | 54°F (12°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.5" | 1.1" | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 36°F (2°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 1.2" | 6.8" | 25.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 23°F (-5°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 1.1" | 11.1" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 80°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 181 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -3°F near January 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 21, then returns to freezing around October 24, covering 181 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 23, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 5 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 103 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Leech Lake.
Where Leech Lake Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 181 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Leech Lake earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 9.3"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.8"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.9"
6.6 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
12.8 days with precipitation
12.0 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
9.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.8"
6.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 11.1"
6.3 days with precipitation
Leech Lake runs a summer-peaked wet season
43% of Leech Lake's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is July at 4.4", on a wide 61.4°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: July, June, August, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.7".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Leech Lake's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 103 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 26.6" between them, or roughly 0.26 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Leech Lake
Leech Lake averages 48.2 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 28 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 48.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 28 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 18% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 8
50% probability date
Growing Season
146 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,189
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
378
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MN closest to Leech Lake on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (41°F here).
- Gordon, WI 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Houlton, ME 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Prentice, WI 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Wilsall, MT 41°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (26.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cooke City, MT 26.6" · 0.0" off
- Ericson, NE 26.6" · 0.0" off
- Garden Valley, ID 26.6" · 0.0" off
- Grand Island, NE 26.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Leech Lake
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Leech Lake logs 9,189 heating degree days, more than twice its 378 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.4°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 146 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Leech Lake coldest normal
January
Averaging 8°F (-13°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Leech Lake typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Leech Lake snow peak
December
Leech Lake averages 48.2 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Leech Lake's climate
How much snow does Leech Lake get? ▼
How cold does Leech Lake get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Leech Lake? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Leech Lake's primary station: LEECH LAKE (USC00214652). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Leech Lake; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Leech Lake comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.