Rothsay, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rothsay's normal year runs from −1°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 24.8 inches of precipitation and 50 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.4°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 27°C, 629 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRothsay
- Station IDUSC00217149
- Location46.48°N 96.29°W
- Elevation1,204 ft (367 m)
- Population487
On October 22, the normal high in Rothsay is 51°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rothsay.
- Jan 18° -1°
- Feb 23° 3°
- Mar 36° 17°
- Apr 53° 31°
- May 67° 45°
- Jun 76° 56°
- Jul 80° 60°
- Aug 78° 58°
- Sep 70° 49°
- Oct 55° 35°
- Nov 38° 21°
- Dec 24° 7°
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 Rothsay each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −1°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.93 in), the least in February (0.63 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | −1°F | 8.7°F | 0.75 | 11.4 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 23°F | 3°F | 12.8°F | 0.63 | 7.7 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 36°F | 17°F | 26.8°F | 1.08 | 7.2 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 31°F | 42.0°F | 2.06 | 4.1 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 45°F | 56.1°F | 3.27 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 15 h |
| June | 76°F | 56°F | 66.1°F | 3.93 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 80°F | 60°F | 70.0°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 78°F | 58°F | 68.3°F | 2.72 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 70°F | 49°F | 59.5°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 55°F | 35°F | 44.8°F | 2.34 | 1.6 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 21°F | 29.4°F | 0.92 | 6.9 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 24°F | 7°F | 15.6°F | 0.89 | 10.7 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 52°F | 32°F | 41.7°F | 24.77 | 49.6 | 93 | 5 | 171 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −18°C | −12.9°C | 19 mm | 29 cm |
| February | −5°C | −16°C | −10.7°C | 16 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 2°C | −8°C | −2.9°C | 27 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 52 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 14°C | 18.9°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 16°C | 21.1°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 2°C | 7.1°C | 59 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 3°C | −6°C | −1.4°C | 23 mm | 18 cm |
| December | −4°C | −14°C | −9.1°C | 23 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00217149; 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 Rothsay?
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 USC00217149.
When is the last frost in Rothsay?
In Rothsay, 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 21 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 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 149 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 166 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rothsay in zone 4a in ZIP code 56579, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rothsay's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 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 USC00217149; 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 Rothsay?
In a normal year in Rothsay, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 171 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 171a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 94high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1959) is 105°F, on August 19, 1976; the lowest is −39°F, on January 16, 1977.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 30.59 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 103.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00217149; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00217149. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rothsay?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rothsay, 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 Rothsay need?
A normal year in Rothsay brings 8,937 heating degree days, 66% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 478 cooling degree days, 47% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,308 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,747 | 0 |
| February | 1,462 | 0 |
| March | 1,186 | 0 |
| April | 691 | 1 |
| May | 302 | 24 |
| June | 67 | 100 |
| July | 20 | 175 |
| August | 33 | 134 |
| September | 206 | 42 |
| October | 627 | 2 |
| November | 1,067 | 0 |
| December | 1,531 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,937 | 478 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00217149. 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 Rothsay been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 44.9°F, 3.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 41.7°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.9°F | +3.2°F | 17.36 | 41.2 |
Over 37 complete years from 1960 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 7.8°F per century (+0.43°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00217149; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rothsay's climate compare?
Rothsay is warmer than 45 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.7°F is warmer than 9%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rothsay 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 Rothsay 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.
- Barnesville, MN2,765 people · 13 mi NW
- Pelican Rapids, MN2,594 people · 11 mi NE
- Erhard, MN132 people · 9 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 Rothsay's climate
What is the coldest month in Rothsay?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of −1°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Rothsay?
Yes: 50 inches in a normal year, falling on 27 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Rothsay?
June, with 3.93 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.63 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rothsay in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rothsay in zone 4a in ZIP code 56579, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rothsay's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Rothsay?
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
- Fergus Falls, MN16 miles from this station, 41.9°F a year
- Breckenridge, MN17 miles from this station, 42.1°F a year
- Detroit Lakes, MN32 miles from this station, 40.1°F a year
- Ottertail, MN35 miles from this station, 40.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made