Long Prairie, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Long Prairie's normal year runs from −1°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 31.0 inches of precipitation and 54 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.5°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 26°C, 788 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLong Prairie
- Station IDUSC00214861
- Location45.96°N 94.89°W
- Elevation1,340 ft (408 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population3,710
On October 22, the normal high in Long Prairie is 51°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 33%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Long Prairie.
- Jan 18° -1°
- Feb 23° 3°
- Mar 36° 15°
- Apr 51° 28°
- May 65° 41°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 79° 57°
- Aug 77° 55°
- Sep 68° 46°
- Oct 54° 34°
- Nov 37° 20°
- Dec 23° 7°
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 Long Prairie each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −1°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.64 in), the least in February (0.92 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | −1°F | 8.5°F | 0.98 | 9.7 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 23°F | 3°F | 12.8°F | 0.92 | 9.0 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 36°F | 15°F | 25.6°F | 1.54 | 8.6 | 8 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 28°F | 39.8°F | 2.73 | 6.1 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 65°F | 41°F | 52.9°F | 3.47 | 0.2 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 63.7°F | 4.58 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 79°F | 57°F | 67.8°F | 4.64 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 77°F | 55°F | 65.8°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 68°F | 46°F | 57.3°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 34°F | 43.7°F | 2.92 | 1.8 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 37°F | 20°F | 28.6°F | 1.46 | 7.1 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 23°F | 7°F | 15.2°F | 1.13 | 11.5 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 30°F | 40.1°F | 31.03 | 54.0 | 121 | 5 | 179 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −18°C | −13.1°C | 25 mm | 25 cm |
| February | −5°C | −16°C | −10.7°C | 23 mm | 23 cm |
| March | 2°C | −9°C | −3.6°C | 39 mm | 22 cm |
| April | 11°C | −2°C | 4.3°C | 69 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 18°C | 5°C | 11.6°C | 88 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 17.6°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 13°C | 18.8°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20°C | 8°C | 14.1°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12°C | 1°C | 6.5°C | 74 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 3°C | −7°C | −1.9°C | 37 mm | 18 cm |
| December | −5°C | −14°C | −9.3°C | 29 mm | 29 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00214861; 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 Long Prairie?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00214861.
When is the last frost in Long Prairie?
In Long Prairie, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 13 in half of years and after May 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 13 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 131 year in 10 after May 28; 9 in 10 after May 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 13; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 134 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 153 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Long Prairie in zone 4a in ZIP code 56347, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Long Prairie's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00214861; 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 Long Prairie?
In a normal year in Long Prairie, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 179 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 121 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
- 179a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 92high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 121a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 105°F, on July 28, 1917; the lowest is −45°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 39.53 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 83.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00214861; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00214861. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Long Prairie?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Long Prairie, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.8 |
| February | 81% | 3.0 |
| March | 72% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 69% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 6.1 |
| July | 82% | 6.5 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.1 |
| October | 69% | 2.6 |
| November | 67% | 1.7 |
| December | 61% | 1.2 |
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 Long Prairie need?
A normal year in Long Prairie brings 9,333 heating degree days, 74% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 313 cooling degree days, 65% 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 1,952 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,751 | 0 |
| February | 1,462 | 0 |
| March | 1,221 | 0 |
| April | 758 | 1 |
| May | 386 | 13 |
| June | 103 | 63 |
| July | 35 | 121 |
| August | 63 | 89 |
| September | 256 | 25 |
| October | 662 | 1 |
| November | 1,094 | 0 |
| December | 1,544 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,333 | 313 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00214861. 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 Long Prairie been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 42.0°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 40.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43.1°F | +3.0°F | 28.35 | 43.0 |
| 2022 | 38.8°F | −1.3°F | 31.49 | 68.2 |
| 2023 | 43.3°F | +3.1°F | 23.48 | 59.5 |
| 2024 | 44.9°F | +4.8°F | 30.71 | 31.1 |
| 2025 | 42.0°F | +1.9°F | 33.96 | 60.6 |
Over 72 complete years from 1896 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°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 USC00214861; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Long Prairie's climate compare?
Long Prairie is warmer than 29 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 71. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.1°F is warmer than 6%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Long Prairie 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 Long Prairie share this climate record?
6 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.
- Browerville, MN829 people · 8 mi N
- Clarissa, MN661 people · 12 mi N
- Eagle Bend, MN543 people · 15 mi NW
- Swanville, MN337 people · 12 mi E
- Burtrum, MN122 people · 12 mi SE
- West Union, MN91 people · 14 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 Long Prairie's climate
What is the coldest month in Long Prairie?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of −1°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Long Prairie?
Yes: 54 inches in a normal year, falling on 38 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Long Prairie?
July, with 4.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.92 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Long Prairie in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Long Prairie in zone 4a in ZIP code 56347, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Long Prairie's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Long Prairie?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 28. Waiting until May 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Melrose, MN21 miles from this station, 42.0°F a year
- Alexandria, MN25 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Little Falls, MN26 miles from this station, 44.9°F a year
- Wadena, MN32 miles from this station, 40.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made