Melrose, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Melrose's normal year runs from 0°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 29.1 inches of precipitation and 39 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.6°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 27°C, 739 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMelrose
- Station IDUSC00215325
- Location45.68°N 94.80°W
- Elevation1,195 ft (364 m)
- Population3,911
On October 23, the normal high in Melrose is 52°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Melrose.
- Jan 20° 0°
- Feb 25° 3°
- Mar 37° 17°
- Apr 53° 31°
- May 67° 45°
- Jun 77° 56°
- Jul 81° 60°
- Aug 79° 58°
- Sep 70° 48°
- Oct 56° 35°
- Nov 39° 21°
- Dec 25° 8°
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 Melrose each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 0°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.34 in), the least in January (0.68 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°F | 0°F | 9.8°F | 0.68 | 5.0 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 25°F | 3°F | 14.0°F | 0.71 | 9.0 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 37°F | 17°F | 27.2°F | 1.43 | 7.2 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 31°F | 41.9°F | 2.61 | 5.1 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 45°F | 55.8°F | 3.61 | 0.2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 77°F | 56°F | 66.5°F | 4.22 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 60°F | 70.4°F | 4.34 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 79°F | 58°F | 68.1°F | 3.76 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 70°F | 48°F | 59.0°F | 2.78 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 35°F | 45.1°F | 2.84 | 0.4 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 21°F | 30.0°F | 1.21 | 4.0 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 25°F | 8°F | 16.5°F | 0.89 | 8.1 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 52°F | 32°F | 42.0°F | 29.08 | 39.0 | 89 | 9 | 175 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −7°C | −18°C | −12.3°C | 17 mm | 13 cm |
| February | −4°C | −16°C | −10.0°C | 18 mm | 23 cm |
| March | 3°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 36 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 66 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 92 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 16°C | 21.3°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 9°C | 15.0°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 2°C | 7.3°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 4°C | −6°C | −1.1°C | 31 mm | 10 cm |
| December | −4°C | −13°C | −8.6°C | 23 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215325; 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 Melrose?
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 USC00215325.
When is the last frost in Melrose?
In Melrose, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 17 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 41 year in 10 after May 19; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 17; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 148 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 166 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 26 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Melrose in zone 4b in ZIP code 56352, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Melrose's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (19 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00215325; 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 Melrose?
In a normal year in Melrose, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 175 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 89 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
- 175a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 85high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 89a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 103°F, on July 31, 1988; the lowest is −41°F, on January 31, 2019.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 39.38 in; the snowiest season is 1974–75, with 76.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00215325; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00215325. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Melrose?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Melrose, 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 Melrose need?
A normal year in Melrose brings 8,811 heating degree days, 64% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 483 cooling degree days, 47% 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 2,305 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,711 | 0 |
| February | 1,428 | 0 |
| March | 1,173 | 0 |
| April | 692 | 0 |
| May | 310 | 25 |
| June | 63 | 106 |
| July | 15 | 184 |
| August | 35 | 131 |
| September | 214 | 36 |
| October | 617 | 2 |
| November | 1,052 | 0 |
| December | 1,502 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,811 | 483 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215325. 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 Melrose been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 44.3°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 42.0°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.2°F | +3.2°F | 29.46 | 26.3 |
| 2024 | 46.6°F | +4.6°F | 30.79 | 26.2 |
| 2025 | 44.3°F | +2.3°F | 33.10 | 33.5 |
Over 42 complete years from 1964 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.4°F per century (+0.30°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00215325; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Melrose's climate compare?
Melrose is warmer than 48 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 49. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.0°F is warmer than 9%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Melrose 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 Melrose share this climate record?
12 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.
- Sauk Centre, MN4,682 people · 8 mi NW
- Freeport, MN685 people · 6 mi E
- Upsala, MN481 people · 15 mi NE
- New Munich, MN367 people · 4 mi SE
- Grey Eagle, MN324 people · 11 mi N
- St. Martin, MN318 people · 14 mi SE
- Elrosa, MN219 people · 11 mi SW
- Greenwald, MN205 people · 6 mi SW
- Meire Grove, MN186 people · 5 mi SW
- St. Anthony, MN93 people · 9 mi E
- Spring Hill, MN71 people · 11 mi S
- St. Rosa, MN58 people · 5 mi NE
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 Melrose's climate
What is the coldest month in Melrose?
January, with a normal high of 20°F and a normal low of 0°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Melrose?
Yes: 39 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (9.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Melrose?
July, with 4.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.68 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Melrose in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Melrose in zone 4b in ZIP code 56352, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Melrose's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Melrose?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; 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
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Long Prairie, MN21 miles from this station, 40.1°F a year
- Collegeville St John's, MN21 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- New London, MN27 miles from this station, 43.0°F a year
- Rice, MN29 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made