Muskegon, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Muskegon's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 35.1 inches of precipitation and 87 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.7°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 28°C, 891 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMuskegon County Airport
- Station IDUSW00014840
- Location43.17°N 86.24°W
- Elevation625 ft (191 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population37,287
On October 14, the normal high in Muskegon is 61°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 40%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Muskegon.
- Jan 33° 21°
- Feb 35° 21°
- Mar 44° 27°
- Apr 57° 37°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 78° 57°
- Jul 82° 62°
- Aug 80° 61°
- Sep 73° 54°
- Oct 61° 43°
- Nov 48° 34°
- Dec 37° 26°
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 Muskegon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in October (3.80 in), the least in February (2.11 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 | 33°F | 21°F | 26.6°F | 2.42 | 29.1 | 16 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 21°F | 27.7°F | 2.11 | 20.0 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 27°F | 35.7°F | 2.40 | 7.5 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 37°F | 46.8°F | 3.47 | 1.8 | 13 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 57.9°F | 3.38 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 57°F | 67.4°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 62°F | 71.9°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 61°F | 70.8°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 54°F | 63.5°F | 3.26 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 43°F | 51.9°F | 3.80 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 34°F | 41.0°F | 2.92 | 6.5 | 14 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 37°F | 26°F | 31.9°F | 2.42 | 22.3 | 15 | <1 | 25 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 41°F | 49.4°F | 35.08 | 87.2 | 143 | 3 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −6°C | −3.0°C | 61 mm | 74 cm |
| February | 1°C | −6°C | −2.4°C | 54 mm | 51 cm |
| March | 7°C | −3°C | 2.1°C | 61 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 14°C | 3°C | 8.2°C | 88 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.4°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.7°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.2°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 12°C | 17.5°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 6°C | 11.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 9°C | 1°C | 5.0°C | 74 mm | 17 cm |
| December | 3°C | −3°C | −0.1°C | 61 mm | 57 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014840; 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 Muskegon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USW00014840.
When is the last frost in Muskegon?
In Muskegon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 2 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 18; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 170 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 198 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before November 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Muskegon in zones 6a to 6b across its 3 ZIP code areas (6a in 49442, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Muskegon's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (30 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 Michigan · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014840; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Muskegon ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Muskegon's 3 ZIP code areas run from zone 6a to 6b: 1 in 6a and 2 in 6b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Muskegon?
In a normal year in Muskegon, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 143 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 46high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 143a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 27a normal year
The highest temperature in Muskegon's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1896) is 99°F, on July 30, 1913; the lowest is −30°F, on February 11, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 47.97 in; the snowiest season is 1981–82, with 173.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014840; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record MKGthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Muskegon, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 60°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 61°F; the driest air comes in January (19°F). November is the windiest month (11.1 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (64%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19°F | 75% | 70% | 10.5 mph | 17% | 69% |
| February | 21°F | 71% | 63% | 10.4 mph | 33% | 52% |
| March | 29°F | 65% | 51% | 10.4 mph | 45% | 38% |
| April | 38°F | 60% | 48% | 9.9 mph | 52% | 30% |
| May | 51°F | 67% | 53% | 8.3 mph | 55% | 23% |
| June | 59°F | 69% | 55% | 8.1 mph | 62% | 14% |
| July | 61°F | 71% | 56% | 7.5 mph | 61% | 13% |
| August | 59°F | 73% | 56% | 7.5 mph | 64% | 15% |
| September | 48°F | 73% | 59% | 9.0 mph | 52% | 26% |
| October | 37°F | 72% | 62% | 10.5 mph | 40% | 46% |
| November | 28°F | 74% | 69% | 11.1 mph | 20% | 67% |
| December | 22°F | 76% | 72% | 11.0 mph | 13% | 73% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014840. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Muskegon?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Muskegon, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (46%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 47% | 1.2 |
| February | 55% | 2.1 |
| March | 66% | 3.5 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 65% | 2.6 |
| November | 57% | 1.6 |
| December | 46% | 1.0 |
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 Muskegon need?
A normal year in Muskegon brings 6,297 heating degree days, 17% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 651 cooling degree days, 28% 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 2,760 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,190 | 0 |
| February | 1,046 | 0 |
| March | 909 | 1 |
| April | 550 | 2 |
| May | 252 | 33 |
| June | 50 | 124 |
| July | 9 | 223 |
| August | 13 | 191 |
| September | 116 | 70 |
| October | 413 | 7 |
| November | 722 | 0 |
| December | 1,028 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,297 | 651 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014840. 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 Muskegon been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.5°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.4°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.1°F | +1.7°F | 30.92 | 40.6 |
| 2022 | 50.1°F | +0.7°F | 32.58 | 72.5 |
| 2023 | 52.4°F | +3.0°F | 32.49 | 53.2 |
| 2024 | 53.2°F | +3.8°F | 35.78 | 59.6 |
| 2025 | 49.5°F | +0.1°F | 28.43 | 104.5 |
Over 116 complete years from 1897 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014840; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Muskegon's climate compare?
Muskegon is warmer than 128 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 83. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.4°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Muskegon 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 Muskegon share this climate record?
5 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.
- Norton Shores, MI25,070 people · 0 mi SE
- Muskegon Heights, MI9,806 people · 2 mi N
- Wolf Lake, MI4,802 people · 8 mi NE
- Roosevelt Park, MI4,133 people · 3 mi NW
- North Muskegon, MI4,089 people · 6 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 Muskegon's climate
What is the coldest month in Muskegon?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Muskegon?
Yes: 87 inches in a normal year, falling on 48 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (29.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Muskegon?
October, with 3.80 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.11 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Muskegon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Muskegon in zones 6a to 6b across its 3 ZIP code areas (6a in 49442, the largest). By the same method at Muskegon's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Muskegon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Muskegon in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Grand Haven, MI8 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Fremont, MI22 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Montague, MI22 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Kent City, MI24 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made