Milan, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Milan's normal year runs from 4°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 27.4 inches of precipitation and 51 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.7°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 29°C, 695 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMilan (1 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00215400
- Location45.12°N 95.93°W
- Elevation1,020 ft (311 m)
- Population416
On October 23, the normal high in Milan is 57°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Milan.
- Jan 24° 4°
- Feb 29° 9°
- Mar 42° 22°
- Apr 59° 35°
- May 72° 47°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 85° 61°
- Aug 82° 59°
- Sep 76° 50°
- Oct 61° 38°
- Nov 43° 24°
- Dec 29° 11°
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 Milan each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 4°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.07 in), the least in February (0.74 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 4°F | 14.1°F | 0.77 | 9.5 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 9°F | 18.8°F | 0.74 | 10.1 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 42°F | 22°F | 32.1°F | 1.44 | 9.2 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 35°F | 46.7°F | 2.50 | 6.0 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 72°F | 47°F | 59.9°F | 3.14 | 0.1 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.7°F | 3.89 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 61°F | 73.0°F | 4.07 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 82°F | 59°F | 70.5°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 76°F | 50°F | 63.2°F | 2.77 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 61°F | 38°F | 49.2°F | 2.43 | 1.2 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 24°F | 33.5°F | 1.14 | 6.3 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 11°F | 20.0°F | 0.77 | 8.6 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 35°F | 45.9°F | 27.37 | 51.0 | 90 | 19 | 164 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −15°C | −9.9°C | 20 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −2°C | −13°C | −7.3°C | 19 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 6°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 37 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 64 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.5°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.9°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.4°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 62 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 0.8°C | 29 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −2°C | −12°C | −6.7°C | 20 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215400; 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 Milan?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00215400.
When is the last frost in Milan?
In Milan, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 18 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 31 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 151 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 170 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Milan in zone 4b in ZIP code 56262, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Milan's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (30 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 USC00215400; 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 Milan?
In a normal year in Milan, 19 days a year reach 90°F, 164 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 90 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 164a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 70high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 90a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 113°F, on July 21, 1934; the lowest is −42°F, on February 16, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1953, with 39.09 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 92.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00215400; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00215400. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Milan?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Milan, 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 Milan need?
A normal year in Milan brings 7,687 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 764 cooling degree days, 16% 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 2,889 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,576 | 0 |
| February | 1,294 | 0 |
| March | 1,020 | 0 |
| April | 553 | 4 |
| May | 211 | 53 |
| June | 32 | 173 |
| July | 7 | 257 |
| August | 19 | 191 |
| September | 135 | 79 |
| October | 500 | 8 |
| November | 945 | 0 |
| December | 1,396 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,687 | 764 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215400. 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 Milan been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.7°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.9°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.5°F | +2.6°F | 27.54 | 31.4 |
| 2022 | 44.7°F | −1.2°F | 22.50 | 45.0 |
| 2023 | 47.3°F | +1.4°F | 23.05 | 48.4 |
| 2024 | 49.5°F | +3.6°F | 30.73 | 33.6 |
| 2025 | 47.7°F | +1.8°F | 29.14 | 34.5 |
Over 117 complete years from 1894 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00215400; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Milan's climate compare?
Milan is warmer than 117 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 30. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.9°F is warmer than 23%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Milan 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 Milan share this climate record?
2 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.
- Appleton, MN1,352 people · 7 mi NW
- Holloway, MN86 people · 8 mi N
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 Milan's climate
What is the coldest month in Milan?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 4°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Milan?
Yes: 51 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (10.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Milan?
July, with 4.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.74 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Milan in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Milan in zone 4b in ZIP code 56262, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Milan's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Milan?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Madison, MN14 miles from this station, 43.8°F a year
- Montevideo, MN16 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Benson, MN21 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Artichoke Lake (1 mi E), MN21 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made