Traverse City, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Traverse City's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 29.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 27°C, 740 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTraverse City Cherry Capitol Airport
- Station IDUSW00014850
- Location44.74°N 85.58°W
- Elevation618 ft (188 m)
- Population15,782
On October 14, the normal high in Traverse City is 60°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 49%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Traverse City.
- Jan 29° 17°
- Feb 31° 16°
- Mar 41° 23°
- Apr 54° 33°
- May 67° 43°
- Jun 77° 54°
- Jul 81° 59°
- Aug 80° 59°
- Sep 72° 52°
- Oct 59° 41°
- Nov 46° 32°
- Dec 35° 24°
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 Traverse City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in October (3.60 in), the least in February (1.02 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 | 29°F | 17°F | 23.1°F | 1.67 | 14 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 31°F | 16°F | 23.8°F | 1.02 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 41°F | 23°F | 32.2°F | 1.55 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 33°F | 43.4°F | 2.79 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 43°F | 55.3°F | 2.84 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 77°F | 54°F | 65.6°F | 2.57 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 81°F | 59°F | 70.3°F | 2.71 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.2°F | 2.98 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 72°F | 52°F | 61.9°F | 3.37 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 41°F | 49.9°F | 3.60 | 16 | <1 | 5 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 32°F | 38.7°F | 2.23 | 14 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 35°F | 24°F | 29.1°F | 1.79 | 15 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 38°F | 46.9°F | 29.12 | 146 | 9 | 149 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −8°C | −4.9°C | 42 mm |
| February | 0°C | −9°C | −4.6°C | 26 mm |
| March | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 39 mm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 71 mm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 12.9°C | 72 mm |
| June | 25°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 65 mm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 69 mm |
| August | 26°C | 15°C | 20.7°C | 76 mm |
| September | 22°C | 11°C | 16.6°C | 86 mm |
| October | 15°C | 5°C | 9.9°C | 91 mm |
| November | 8°C | 0°C | 3.7°C | 57 mm |
| December | 1°C | −5°C | −1.6°C | 45 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Traverse City's own co-op station Traverse City Munson does: 101 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014850; 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 Traverse City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USW00014850.
When is the last frost in Traverse City?
In Traverse City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after May 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 1 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 121 year in 10 after May 27; 9 in 10 after April 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 155 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 182 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Traverse City in zone 6b in ZIP code 49686. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Traverse City's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (30 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Michigan · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014850; 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 Traverse City?
In a normal year in Traverse City, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 149 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 146 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
- 149a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 60high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 146a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 105°F, on July 7, 1936; the lowest is −37°F, on February 17, 1979.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1942, with 40.28 in; the snowiest season is 1995–96, with 191.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014850; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00014850. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Traverse City, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 58°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 59°F; the driest air comes in January (16°F). December is the windiest month (8.0 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (51%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°F | 75% | 68% | 7.8 mph | – | – |
| February | 18°F | 72% | 61% | 7.6 mph | 29% | 52% |
| March | 27°F | 65% | 50% | 7.6 mph | 32% | 42% |
| April | 35°F | 60% | 45% | 7.0 mph | 38% | 35% |
| May | 48°F | 66% | 49% | 6.1 mph | 40% | 27% |
| June | 57°F | 67% | 49% | 6.2 mph | 41% | 22% |
| July | 59°F | 69% | 50% | 5.9 mph | 41% | 19% |
| August | 57°F | 72% | 52% | 5.8 mph | 51% | 18% |
| September | 47°F | 73% | 56% | 6.7 mph | 36% | 31% |
| October | 35°F | 72% | 59% | 7.6 mph | 35% | 48% |
| November | 26°F | 75% | 69% | 7.9 mph | – | – |
| December | 20°F | 77% | 71% | 8.0 mph | – | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014850. 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 Traverse City?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Traverse City, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (47%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 52% | 1.3 |
| February | 59% | 2.2 |
| March | 67% | 3.5 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 79% | 6.2 |
| August | 77% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.1 |
| October | 62% | 2.4 |
| November | 55% | 1.4 |
| December | 47% | 0.9 |
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 Traverse City need?
A normal year in Traverse City brings 7,104 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 534 cooling degree days, 41% 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 2,441 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,297 | 0 |
| February | 1,152 | 0 |
| March | 1,018 | 1 |
| April | 651 | 2 |
| May | 327 | 27 |
| June | 83 | 101 |
| July | 20 | 186 |
| August | 25 | 153 |
| September | 153 | 58 |
| October | 475 | 7 |
| November | 789 | 0 |
| December | 1,114 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,104 | 534 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014850. 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 Traverse City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.2°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.9°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.5°F | +2.6°F | 27.29 |
| 2022 | 47.5°F | +0.6°F | – |
| 2023 | 49.8°F | +2.9°F | – |
| 2024 | 51.2°F | +4.3°F | 20.62 |
| 2025 | 47.2°F | +0.3°F | 26.06 |
Over 105 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014850; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Traverse City's climate compare?
Traverse City is warmer than 71 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.9°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Traverse City 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 Traverse City share this climate record?
Chums Corner has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Chums Corner, MI1,012 people · 6 mi SW
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 Traverse City's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Traverse City. This page uses Traverse City Cherry Capitol Airport; the other differs by site and elevation, and the linked ones have pages of their own:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traverse City Munson USC00208249 | 3 mi NW | 635 ft | 45.1°F | 15°F | 79°F | 36.2 | 101 | May 9 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Traverse City's climate
What is the coldest month in Traverse City?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Traverse City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Traverse City's NOAA station; Traverse City's own co-op station Traverse City Munson records 101 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Traverse City?
October, with 3.60 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Traverse City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Traverse City in zone 6b in ZIP code 49686. By the same method at Traverse City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Traverse City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after May 27. Waiting until May 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Traverse City in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Traverse City Munson, MI3 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- NW Michigan Research Farm, MI11 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Old Mission (3 mi SSW), MI13 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- South Boardman, MI14 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made