Van Buren, ME Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Van Buren's primary NOAA station, VAN BUREN 2.
The climate verdict for Van Buren
Winter sets the terms in Van Buren, Maine. A pronounced 58.3°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 38°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.
- 38°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 41.5"
- annual precipitation · 97" snow
- 126 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Van Buren: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00178965 · Van Buren, ME 38°F mean · 41.5" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 38°F
- RANK-COOL #206
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Marcell
- PRCP-MID 41.5"
- SWING-WIDE 58°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,852 HDD
- STN-1 USC00178965
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Marcell, MN (+ 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 ME station list.
- Van Buren (this station) 38°F
- Cold Northome, MN 38°F
- Hot Marcell, MN 38°F
- Near Clarksburg, MI 38°F
- Near Fontenelle Dam, WY 38°F
Van Buren sits in Maine, the #4 coldest U.S. state at 43.1°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Van Buren
Van Buren: 21/100 · grade F
Van Buren publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Van Buren, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 41.5 in · 6.5 from 35 in | 77/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 189 calendar days | 20/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 126 days/year | 10/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 38.4°F · 29.1° from 67.5°F | 1/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 96.7 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Van Buren · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Van Buren is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 7.4°F and warmest-month mean 65.7°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
- 65.7°F
- Coldest month
- 7.4°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 Van Buren sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Van Buren's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 97%
- Among 6,861 stations, Van Buren sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 61st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 96%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Van Buren is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Van Buren compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Van Buren'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
Van Buren's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 41 complete annual observations from 1974 to 2025, VAN BUREN 2 warmed at a fitted rate of 0.41°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Van Buren primary station fitted change +0.41 °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 | 19°F (-7°C) | -4°F (-20°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 2.9" | 24.5" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 23°F (-5°C) | -5°F (-20°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 2.3" | 20.0" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 33°F (1°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 2.5" | 17.5" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 47°F (8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 3.1" | 5.7" | 23.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.6" | 0.1" | 7.2 | 0.2 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| July | 76°F (25°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 4.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| August | 75°F (24°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| September | 67°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 2.7 | 0.1 |
| October | 53°F (11°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 4.4" | 0.8" | 15.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 39°F (4°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 3.4" | 7.4" | 24.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 26°F (-3°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 3.4" | 20.7" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 77°F around July 25, short of 90°F on every date, while 189 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -7°F near January 30.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 26, then returns to freezing around October 21, covering 189 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 July 10, when 47% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 2 at 32%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 143 wet dates a year.
The widest day
February 17 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Van Buren.
Where Van Buren Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 189 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Van Buren 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: 24.5"
10.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 20.0"
9.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 17.5"
10.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.7"
11.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
13.5 days with precipitation
12.8 days with precipitation
14.4 days with precipitation
12.5 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
13.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.4"
12.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 20.7"
12.0 days with precipitation
Van Buren spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 30% of the annual total and December through February 21%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Van Buren has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 58.3°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 4.8" and February 2.3". The three wettest months together take 32% 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 Van Buren's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 143 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 41.5" between them, or roughly 0.29 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 Van Buren
Van Buren averages 96.7 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 36 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: 96.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 36 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 23% 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
September 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 23
50% probability date
Growing Season
126 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,852
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
196
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ME closest to Van Buren 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 (38°F here).
- Baudette, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Floodwood, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Pembina, ND 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Afton, WY 39°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (41.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Corvallis, OR 41.5" · 0.0" off
- Warrenton, MO 41.5" · 0.0" off
- Lewisburg, WV 41.5" · 0.0" off
- New Franklin, MO 41.5" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Van Buren
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Van Buren logs 9,852 heating degree days, more than twice its 196 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 58.3°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 126 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Van Buren coldest normal
January
Averaging 7°F (-14°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Van Buren typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Van Buren snow peak
January
Van Buren averages 96.7 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Van Buren's climate
How much snow does Van Buren get? ▼
How cold does Van Buren get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Van Buren? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Van Buren's primary station: VAN BUREN 2 (USC00178965). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 2378535), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Van Buren: 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 Van Buren 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.