Stillwater, MN Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Stillwater's primary NOAA station, STILLWATER 1 SE - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Stillwater
Winter sets the terms in Stillwater, Minnesota. A pronounced 56.9°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 48°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 48°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 35.1"
- yearly precipitation total
- 180 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Stillwater: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00218037 · Stillwater, MN 48°F mean · 35.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,264
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Creighton
- PRCP-MID 35.1"
- SWING-WIDE 57°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,928 HDD
- STN-MULTI USC00218037
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Creighton, NE ( -0.1 °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 MN station list.
- Hot Yankton, SD 49°F
- Stillwater (this station) 48°F
- Cold Menno, SD 48°F
- Near Creighton, NE 48°F
- Near Carroll, IA 48°F
Stillwater sits in Minnesota, the #3 coldest U.S. state at 42.2°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Stillwater
Stillwater: 53/100 · grade D
Stillwater publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Stillwater, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 35.1 in · 0.1 from 35 in | 96/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 180 days/year | 50/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 148 calendar days | 48/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.4°F · 19.1° from 67.5°F | 33/100 · F |
Stillwater · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Stillwater is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 17.9°F and warmest-month mean 74.8°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 74.8°F
- Coldest month
- 17.9°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 Stillwater sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Stillwater's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 33rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 48th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 94%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Stillwater is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Stillwater compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Stillwater's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 1.0" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.9" | 26.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.5" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 60°F (15°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.1" | 9.7 | 0.3 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 4.2" | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 5.4" | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| July | 85°F (30°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 4.5" | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 5.3" | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| September | 76°F (24°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 3.2" | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| October | 62°F (16°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.2" | 5.1 | 0.1 |
| November | 45°F (7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.6" | 21.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 32°F (0°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 1.1" | 29.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 148 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 19.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 3, then returns to freezing around November 8, covering 148 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 June 13, when 43% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 7 at 22%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 111 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 23°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Stillwater.
Where Stillwater Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 23°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Stillwater 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
8.3 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
12.4 days with precipitation
12.9 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
Stillwater runs a summer-peaked wet season
43% of Stillwater's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 5.4", on a wide 56.9°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, August, July, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.9".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Stillwater's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 111 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 35.1" between them, or roughly 0.32 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 19
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
180 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,928
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
927
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MN closest to Stillwater 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 (48°F here).
- Alturas, CA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Dunkirk, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Falls Village, CT 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Haverhill, MA 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (35.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Dearborn, MI 35.0" · 0.0" off
- Audubon, IA 35.0" · 0.0" off
- Fort Dodge, IA 35.1" · 0.0" off
- Friendship, WI 35.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Stillwater's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Stillwater logs 6,928 heating degree days, more than twice its 927 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.9°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Stillwater's frost-free season lasts about 180 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Stillwater's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 56.9°F between them. The annual average is 48°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Stillwater's 35.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Stillwater's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Stillwater, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Stillwater's climate
How much rain does Stillwater get? ▼
How cold does Stillwater get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Stillwater? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Stillwater's primary station: STILLWATER 1 SE (USC00218037). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Stillwater area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 2762824). Match rule for Stillwater: 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 Stillwater 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.