Mankato, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mankato's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 33.9 inches of precipitation and 39 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 28°C, 861 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMankato
- Station IDUSC00215073
- Location44.15°N 94.02°W
- Elevation850 ft (259 m)
- Population46,459
On October 22, the normal high in Mankato is 57°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Mankato.
- Jan 24° 6°
- Feb 29° 9°
- Mar 41° 22°
- Apr 57° 34°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 79° 58°
- Jul 82° 62°
- Aug 80° 59°
- Sep 74° 50°
- Oct 60° 37°
- Nov 43° 25°
- Dec 29° 13°
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 Mankato each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.64 in), the least in February (0.84 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 6°F | 14.7°F | 0.99 | 8.2 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 9°F | 19.0°F | 0.84 | 6.9 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 22°F | 31.4°F | 1.88 | 7.4 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 34°F | 45.2°F | 3.31 | 1.6 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 4.20 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 58°F | 68.2°F | 5.64 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 62°F | 71.8°F | 4.26 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.5°F | 4.31 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 50°F | 61.9°F | 3.30 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 37°F | 48.6°F | 2.37 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 25°F | 34.1°F | 1.65 | 5.9 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 13°F | 20.6°F | 1.13 | 8.6 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 35°F | 45.3°F | 33.88 | 38.7 | 99 | 10 | 161 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −15°C | −9.6°C | 25 mm | 21 cm |
| February | −2°C | −13°C | −7.2°C | 21 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 48 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 84 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.5°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 143 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 9.2°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 1.2°C | 42 mm | 15 cm |
| December | −2°C | −11°C | −6.3°C | 29 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215073; 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 Mankato?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00215073.
When is the last frost in Mankato?
In Mankato, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 25 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
- April 301 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 161 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 182 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mankato in zone 5a in ZIP code 56001. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mankato's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (19 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 USC00215073; 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 Mankato?
In a normal year in Mankato, 10 days a year reach 90°F, 161 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 99 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 10a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 161a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 71high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 99a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1954) is 107°F, on August 1, 1988; the lowest is −35°F, on February 3, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 44.54 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 77.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00215073; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00215073. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mankato?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mankato, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.9 |
| February | 80% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 74% | 6.1 |
| July | 83% | 6.5 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 78% | 4.2 |
| October | 71% | 2.8 |
| November | 69% | 1.8 |
| December | 66% | 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 Mankato need?
A normal year in Mankato brings 7,789 heating degree days, 45% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 632 cooling degree days, 30% 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 2,657 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,559 | 0 |
| February | 1,288 | 0 |
| March | 1,042 | 0 |
| April | 596 | 2 |
| May | 251 | 37 |
| June | 45 | 143 |
| July | 9 | 220 |
| August | 23 | 161 |
| September | 156 | 62 |
| October | 516 | 8 |
| November | 929 | 0 |
| December | 1,375 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,789 | 632 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215073. 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.
How does Mankato's climate compare?
Mankato is warmer than 108 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 100. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.3°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mankato is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Mankato share this climate record?
7 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.
- North Mankato, MN14,142 people · 2 mi NW
- Eagle Lake, MN3,333 people · 7 mi E
- Lake Crystal, MN2,485 people · 10 mi W
- Madison Lake, MN1,314 people · 11 mi E
- St. Clair, MN717 people · 9 mi SE
- Skyline, MN282 people · 1 mi SW
- Garden City, MN228 people · 10 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 Mankato's climate
What is the coldest month in Mankato?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Mankato?
Yes: 39 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Mankato?
June, with 5.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.84 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mankato in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mankato in zone 5a in ZIP code 56001. By the same method at Mankato's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Mankato?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Mankato in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- St. Peter, MN12 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Amboy, MN20 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Waseca, MN25 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- New Ulm, MN25 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made