Petoskey, MI Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Petoskey's primary NOAA station, PETOSKEY.
The climate verdict for Petoskey
Petoskey, Michigan has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 44°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 44°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 34.2"
- annual precipitation · 124" snow
- 167 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Petoskey: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00206507 · Petoskey, MI 44°F mean · 34.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,166
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Challis
- PRCP-MID 34.2"
- SWING-WIDE 46°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,788 HDD
- STN-1 USC00206507
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Challis, ID (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MI station list.
- Petoskey (this station) 44°F
- Cold Rutland, VT 44°F
- Hot Warsaw, NY 44°F
- Near Challis, ID 44°F
- Near Hungry Horse Dam, MT 44°F
Climate Living Index · Petoskey
Petoskey: 39/100 · grade F
Petoskey publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Petoskey, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 34.2 in · 0.8 from 35 in | 94/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 155 calendar days | 43/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 167 days/year | 39/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.4°F · 23.1° from 67.5°F | 18/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 123.6 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Petoskey · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Petoskey is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 21.1°F and warmest-month mean 67.2°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 67.2°F
- Coldest month
- 21.1°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Petoskey sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Petoskey's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 83%
- Among 6,861 stations, Petoskey sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 47th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 64th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Petoskey compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Petoskey's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Petoskey's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 58 complete annual observations from 1953 to 2025, PETOSKEY warmed at a fitted rate of 0.16°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Petoskey primary station fitted change +0.16 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 2.4" | 39.3" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 28°F (-2°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 1.7" | 27.2" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 37°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.9" | 12.2" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 48°F (9°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 2.9" | 4.5" | 16.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 61°F (16°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.1" | 0.1" | 1.4 | 0.1 |
| June | 70°F (21°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 2.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| July | 75°F (24°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 2.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| August | 75°F (24°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 4.5" | 0.3" | 3.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 3.0" | 9.4" | 15.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 2.4" | 30.6" | 26.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 76°F around July 21, short of 90°F on every date, while 155 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near February 3.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 16, then returns to freezing around November 14, covering 155 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 6, when 58% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 14 at 32%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 162 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 19°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Petoskey.
Where Petoskey Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 19°F.
Petoskey earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 39.3"
18.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 27.2"
13.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 12.2"
10.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
11.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
12.3 days with precipitation
10.6 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
12.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
16.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.4"
16.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 30.6"
17.3 days with precipitation
Petoskey spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 25% of the annual total and December through February 19%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Petoskey has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 46.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 4.5" and February 1.7". The three wettest months together take 33% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Petoskey's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 161 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 34.2" between them, or roughly 0.21 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Petoskey
Petoskey averages 123.6 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 50 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 123.6 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 50 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 36% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 20
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
167 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,788
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
316
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
February
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MI closest to Petoskey on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (44°F here).
- Baker, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Bellemont, AZ 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Bridgeport, CA 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Challis, ID 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (34.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cuero, TX 34.2" · 0.0" off
- Medford, WI 34.2" · 0.0" off
- Heron, MT 34.2" · 0.0" off
- Owen, WI 34.2" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Petoskey
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Petoskey's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,788 annual heating degree days against 316 for cooling. Its 46.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Petoskey's frost-free season lasts about 167 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Petoskey coldest normal
February
Averaging 21°F (-6°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Petoskey typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Petoskey snow peak
January
Petoskey averages 123.6 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Petoskey's climate
How much snow does Petoskey get? ▼
How cold does Petoskey get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Petoskey? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Petoskey's primary station: PETOSKEY (USC00206507). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 2663820). Match rule for Petoskey: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Petoskey comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.