Owatonna, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Owatonna's normal year runs from 5°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 35.5 inches of precipitation and 44 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 28°C, 901 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOwatonna
- Station IDUSC00216287
- Location44.10°N 93.23°W
- Elevation1,140 ft (348 m)
- Population26,626
On October 23, the normal high in Owatonna is 55°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Owatonna.
- Jan 22° 5°
- Feb 27° 9°
- Mar 40° 22°
- Apr 55° 34°
- May 68° 47°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 82° 62°
- Aug 79° 60°
- Sep 73° 51°
- Oct 59° 38°
- Nov 42° 25°
- Dec 28° 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 Owatonna each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 5°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.28 in), the least in January (0.87 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 | 22°F | 5°F | 13.7°F | 0.87 | 9.5 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 27°F | 9°F | 18.0°F | 0.89 | 10.2 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 22°F | 30.7°F | 1.99 | 6.8 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 34°F | 44.8°F | 3.18 | 2.6 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 47°F | 57.1°F | 4.61 | 0.5 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 68.1°F | 5.28 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 62°F | 71.8°F | 4.79 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 60°F | 69.5°F | 4.84 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 51°F | 62.1°F | 3.80 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 38°F | 48.3°F | 2.48 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 42°F | 25°F | 33.3°F | 1.65 | 3.1 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 28°F | 13°F | 20.3°F | 1.08 | 11.2 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 35°F | 44.8°F | 35.46 | 44.2 | 105 | 9 | 160 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −15°C | −10.2°C | 22 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −3°C | −13°C | −7.8°C | 23 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 4°C | −6°C | −0.7°C | 51 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 81 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 13.9°C | 117 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 134 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.1°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 16.7°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 63 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 5°C | −4°C | 0.7°C | 42 mm | 8 cm |
| December | −2°C | −11°C | −6.5°C | 27 mm | 28 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00216287; 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 Owatonna?
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 USC00216287.
When is the last frost in Owatonna?
In Owatonna, 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 6 in half of years and before September 23 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 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Owatonna in zone 4b in ZIP code 55060, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Owatonna's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°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 USC00216287; 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 Owatonna?
In a normal year in Owatonna, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 160 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 105 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
- 160a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 78high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 105a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1961) is 102°F, on June 9, 1985; the lowest is −35°F, on January 9, 1977.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 53.50 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 85.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00216287; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00216287. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Owatonna?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Owatonna, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 1.8 |
| February | 78% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 74% | 6.0 |
| July | 82% | 6.4 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.2 |
| October | 69% | 2.7 |
| November | 67% | 1.8 |
| December | 62% | 1.3 |
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 Owatonna need?
A normal year in Owatonna brings 7,956 heating degree days, 48% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 640 cooling degree days, 29% 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 2,644 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,592 | 0 |
| February | 1,316 | 0 |
| March | 1,064 | 0 |
| April | 610 | 2 |
| May | 278 | 35 |
| June | 50 | 144 |
| July | 10 | 222 |
| August | 22 | 162 |
| September | 154 | 67 |
| October | 525 | 7 |
| November | 950 | 0 |
| December | 1,386 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,956 | 640 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00216287. 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 Owatonna been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.6°F, 2.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.8°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.3°F | +2.5°F | 28.57 | 44.9 |
| 2022 | 43.8°F | −1.0°F | 32.01 | 43.0 |
| 2023 | 47.6°F | +2.8°F | 32.19 | 44.8 |
Over 57 complete years from 1963 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00216287; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Owatonna's climate compare?
Owatonna is warmer than 98 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 110. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.8°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Owatonna 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 Owatonna share this climate record?
3 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.
- Medford, MN1,362 people · 5 mi N
- Ellendale, MN658 people · 16 mi S
- Claremont, MN499 people · 12 mi E
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 Owatonna's climate
What is the coldest month in Owatonna?
January, with a normal high of 22°F and a normal low of 5°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Owatonna?
Yes: 44 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Owatonna?
June, with 5.28 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.87 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Owatonna in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Owatonna in zone 4b in ZIP code 55060, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Owatonna's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Owatonna?
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
- Owatonna in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Faribault, MN15 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Waseca, MN15 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Byron, MN29 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Zumbrota, MN31 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made