St. Paul, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
St. Paul's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 29.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.1°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 742 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSt Paul Downtown Airport
- Station IDUSW00014927
- Location44.93°N 93.06°W
- Elevation700 ft (213 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population307,465
On October 22, the normal high in St. Paul is 55°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for St. Paul.
- Jan 24° 9°
- Feb 29° 13°
- Mar 42° 25°
- Apr 57° 37°
- May 69° 49°
- Jun 79° 59°
- Jul 83° 64°
- Aug 80° 62°
- Sep 72° 53°
- Oct 58° 40°
- Nov 42° 27°
- Dec 29° 15°
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 St. Paul each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.63 in), the least in January (0.48 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 9°F | 16.3°F | 0.48 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 13°F | 20.8°F | 0.52 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 42°F | 25°F | 33.1°F | 1.43 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 37°F | 47.0°F | 2.58 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 69°F | 49°F | 58.9°F | 3.97 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 79°F | 59°F | 68.8°F | 4.63 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 83°F | 64°F | 73.3°F | 3.97 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 80°F | 62°F | 71.1°F | 4.10 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 72°F | 53°F | 62.9°F | 3.08 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 40°F | 49.0°F | 2.47 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 11 h |
| November | 42°F | 27°F | 34.6°F | 1.32 | 6 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 15°F | 21.7°F | 0.65 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 38°F | 46.5°F | 29.20 | 102 | 12 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −13°C | −8.7°C | 12 mm |
| February | −2°C | −11°C | −6.2°C | 13 mm |
| March | 5°C | −4°C | 0.6°C | 36 mm |
| April | 14°C | 3°C | 8.3°C | 66 mm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 101 mm |
| June | 26°C | 15°C | 20.4°C | 118 mm |
| July | 28°C | 18°C | 22.9°C | 101 mm |
| August | 27°C | 17°C | 21.7°C | 104 mm |
| September | 22°C | 12°C | 17.2°C | 78 mm |
| October | 14°C | 4°C | 9.4°C | 63 mm |
| November | 6°C | −3°C | 1.4°C | 34 mm |
| December | −2°C | −10°C | −5.7°C | 17 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, University of Minnesota St Paul (7 miles away), gets 40 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014927; 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 St. Paul?
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 (10).
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 USW00014927.
When is the last frost in St. Paul?
In St. Paul, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 24 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 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 241 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 174 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 194 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts St. Paul in zone 5a across its 13 ZIP code areas (5a in 55106, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, St. Paul's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (23 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 USW00014927; 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 St. Paul ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. St. Paul's 13 ZIP code areas are all in zone 5a. 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 St. Paul?
In a normal year in St. Paul, 12 days a year reach 90°F, 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 102 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 70high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 102a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1872) is 104°F, on July 24, 1901; the lowest is −41°F, on January 21, 1888.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1911, with 40.44 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 83.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014927; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00014927. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is St. Paul, 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 (11°F). April is the windiest month (9.5 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (68%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°F | 73% | 63% | 8.4 mph | 52% | 37% |
| February | 16°F | 69% | 57% | 8.7 mph | 54% | 34% |
| March | 28°F | 62% | 47% | 9.3 mph | 52% | 33% |
| April | 37°F | 55% | 41% | 9.5 mph | 53% | 29% |
| May | 51°F | 63% | 48% | 7.6 mph | 53% | 25% |
| June | 60°F | 66% | 51% | 7.7 mph | 59% | 16% |
| July | 61°F | 68% | 51% | 6.8 mph | 60% | 15% |
| August | 59°F | 71% | 52% | 7.4 mph | 68% | 14% |
| September | 45°F | 69% | 50% | 8.1 mph | 61% | 25% |
| October | 32°F | 67% | 52% | 8.5 mph | 52% | 38% |
| November | 20°F | 74% | 63% | 8.4 mph | 48% | 41% |
| December | 12°F | 76% | 67% | 8.4 mph | 48% | 41% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014927. 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 St. Paul?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around St. Paul, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and December the cloudiest (62%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 352nd (with 32 others) in sunshine.
| 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 St. Paul need?
A normal year in St. Paul brings 7,443 heating degree days, 39% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 724 cooling degree days, 20% 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 2,831 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,511 | 0 |
| February | 1,238 | 0 |
| March | 988 | 0 |
| April | 543 | 3 |
| May | 225 | 36 |
| June | 35 | 150 |
| July | 5 | 262 |
| August | 10 | 198 |
| September | 133 | 70 |
| October | 503 | 7 |
| November | 912 | 0 |
| December | 1,342 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,443 | 724 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014927. 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 St. Paul been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 50.7°F, 4.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.5°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.7°F | +3.2°F | 22.24 |
| 2022 | 46.0°F | −0.5°F | – |
| 2023 | 49.6°F | +3.1°F | 27.76 |
| 2024 | 50.7°F | +4.2°F | 34.12 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014927. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does St. Paul's climate compare?
St. Paul is warmer than 122 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.5°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, St. Paul 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 St. Paul share this climate record?
9 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.
- Inver Grove Heights, MN36,226 people · 7 mi S
- Oakdale, MN30,441 people · 6 mi NE
- West St. Paul, MN21,920 people · 2 mi SW
- South St. Paul, MN20,590 people · 3 mi S
- Newport, MN5,415 people · 5 mi SE
- St. Paul Park, MN5,381 people · 7 mi SE
- Landfall, MN843 people · 4 mi E
- Lilydale, MN779 people · 4 mi SW
- Sunfish Lake, MN522 people · 4 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do St. Paul's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near St. Paul. This page uses St Paul Downtown Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Paul (3 mi SW) USC00217379 | 3 mi SW | 925 ft | 45.6°F | 7°F | 82°F | – | – | April 25 |
| St Paul station USC00217377 | 4 mi E | 900 ft | 45.6°F | 8°F | 82°F | – | – | April 26 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about St. Paul's climate
What is the coldest month in St. Paul?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in St. Paul?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for St. Paul's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, University of Minnesota St Paul (7 miles away), records 40 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in St. Paul?
June, with 4.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.48 in.
What plant hardiness zone is St. Paul in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts St. Paul in zone 5a across its 13 ZIP code areas (5a in 55106, the largest). By the same method at St. Paul's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in St. Paul?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 24; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- St. Paul in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- University of Minnesota St Paul, MN7 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Vadnais Lake, MN8 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Minneapolis, MN9 miles from this station, 46.9°F a year
- Lower St Anthony Falls, MN10 miles from this station, 45.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made