Moorhead, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Moorhead's normal year runs from 0°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 26.1 inches of precipitation and 53 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.7°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 28°C, 663 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMoorhead
- Station IDUSC00215586
- Location46.89°N 96.75°W
- Elevation904 ft (276 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population45,726
On October 22, the normal high in Moorhead is 52°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Moorhead.
- Jan 17° 0°
- Feb 23° 4°
- Mar 37° 18°
- Apr 54° 32°
- May 69° 45°
- Jun 78° 56°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 81° 59°
- Sep 72° 49°
- Oct 55° 36°
- Nov 38° 21°
- Dec 23° 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 Moorhead each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 0°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.66 in), the least in February (0.72 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°F | 0°F | 8.4°F | 0.73 | 12.2 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 23°F | 4°F | 13.3°F | 0.72 | 7.7 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 37°F | 18°F | 27.1°F | 1.33 | 9.3 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 32°F | 42.9°F | 1.72 | 4.0 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 69°F | 45°F | 56.8°F | 3.40 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 h |
| June | 78°F | 56°F | 67.1°F | 4.66 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.2°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 59°F | 69.5°F | 2.74 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 49°F | 60.0°F | 2.94 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 55°F | 36°F | 45.4°F | 2.51 | 0.7 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 21°F | 29.4°F | 1.05 | 8.0 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 23°F | 8°F | 15.4°F | 0.92 | 10.8 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 52°F | 32°F | 42.2°F | 26.09 | 52.7 | 109 | 10 | 170 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −18°C | −13.1°C | 19 mm | 31 cm |
| February | −5°C | −16°C | −10.4°C | 18 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 3°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 34 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 44 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.5°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 2°C | 7.4°C | 64 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 3°C | −6°C | −1.4°C | 27 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −5°C | −14°C | −9.2°C | 23 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215586; 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 Moorhead?
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 (9).
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 USC00215586.
When is the last frost in Moorhead?
In Moorhead, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 22 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 51 year in 10 after May 20; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 22; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 150 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 169 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Moorhead in zone 4a in ZIP code 56560. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Moorhead's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (20 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 USC00215586; 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 Moorhead?
In a normal year in Moorhead, 10 days a year reach 90°F, 170 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 109 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
- 170a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 95high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 109a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1881) is 114°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −47°F, on February 9, 1888.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1882, with 34.01 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 117.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00215586; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00215586. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Moorhead?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Moorhead, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 1.8 |
| February | 83% | 3.0 |
| March | 75% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 82% | 6.5 |
| August | 81% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.1 |
| October | 69% | 2.6 |
| November | 67% | 1.6 |
| December | 66% | 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 Moorhead need?
A normal year in Moorhead brings 8,822 heating degree days, 64% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 566 cooling degree days, 38% 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 2,453 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,753 | 0 |
| February | 1,449 | 0 |
| March | 1,173 | 0 |
| April | 662 | 1 |
| May | 280 | 27 |
| June | 56 | 119 |
| July | 13 | 207 |
| August | 25 | 164 |
| September | 196 | 46 |
| October | 612 | 3 |
| November | 1,067 | 0 |
| December | 1,538 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,822 | 566 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00215586. 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 Moorhead's climate compare?
Moorhead is warmer than 52 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.2°F is warmer than 10%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Moorhead 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 Moorhead share this climate record?
13 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.
- West Fargo, ND41,027 people · 8 mi W
- Horace, ND6,286 people · 12 mi SW
- Mapleton, ND1,476 people · 14 mi W
- Kindred, ND1,030 people · 21 mi SW
- Reile's Acres, ND866 people · 6 mi NW
- Oxbow, ND375 people · 16 mi S
- Walcott, ND266 people · 25 mi S
- Davenport, ND252 people · 19 mi SW
- Frontier, ND196 people · 7 mi SW
- Christine, ND149 people · 22 mi S
- North River, ND56 people · 5 mi NW
- Briarwood, ND54 people · 7 mi S
- Prairie Rose, ND54 people · 6 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 Moorhead's climate
What is the coldest month in Moorhead?
January, with a normal high of 17°F and a normal low of 0°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Moorhead?
Yes: 53 inches in a normal year, falling on 40 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (12.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Moorhead?
June, with 4.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.72 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Moorhead in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Moorhead in zone 4a in ZIP code 56560. By the same method at Moorhead's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Moorhead?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 20. Waiting until May 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fargo, ND4 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Georgetown, MN13 miles from this station, 42.1°F a year
- Casselton, ND23 miles from this station, 41.1°F a year
- Ada, MN30 miles from this station, 40.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made