FAIRMONT, MN

Overview:
Fairmont, Minnesota is the county seat of Martin County on the southern edge of the state. The city was built around a chain of five lakes: Lake George, Sisseton Lake, Budd Lake, Hall Lake, and Amber Lake. Fishing and boating are popular recreational activities in the area.

The climate in Fairmont and much of southern Minnesota can be characterized as humid continental, with hot and humid summers and cold and snowy winters. Spring and fall are relatively short, transitory seasons, and temperature swings can be dramatic from season to season. The city’s location in the southern region of the state means that temperatures are generally warmer than in more northerly areas. Tornadoes are also relatively common in the region, which is located along the northern edge of Tornado Alley. Precipitation is largely influenced by warm air masses flowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico, which brings moisture into the region. Nearly half of annual precipitation falls as rain during the summer months, while snowfall is typical during the winter.

State/ Province ID: MN

Station ID: C00212698

Directory Name: FAIRMONT_HCN_MN_C00212698

Elevation: 361.80m

The resources presented here were developed in cooperation with the Office of the Michigan State Climatologist using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information. For more information regarding our data sources, quality control, and methodology, please see our Historical Climatologies: Quality Control reference guide.

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Recent Climate Summary, 1991-2020

Average Temperature46.1°F7.8°C
Average Low Temperature36.7°F2.6°C
Average High Temperature55.5°13.0°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F8.4 
Days/Year that fall below 32°F43.1 
Lowest Annual Average Temperature50.3°F10.2°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature32.8°F83.4°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation20.8 in52.9 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total52.4 in133.1 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total36.5 in0.0 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation36.1 

Temperature

Click on the following links to be taken to the corresponding portion of the page.

  • Monthly Average Temperature
  • How Temperatures are Changing
    • Changes in Average Temperature – Includes a summary table of the average annual and seasonal temperature changes, and time series graphs of how the annual low, average, and high temperatures compare to the long term average plotted for every year on record.
    • Cold Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year below 32°F and the number of heating degree days per year to see how cold days are changing.
    • Hot Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year above 90°F and the number of cooling degree days per year to see how hot days are changing.
    • Growing Season Changes – View a time series of the annual number of days in the freeze-free period.

Monthly Average Temperature

Changes in Average Temperature, 1951-2013.

 °F°C
Annual average temperature1.60.9
Winter average temperature0.30.1
Spring average temperature2.41.3
Summer average temperature0.60.3
Fall average temperature0.90.5

Annual High and Low Temperature Departure

Cold Temperatures

¹Heating Degree Days (HDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to heat a building. HDDs accumulate on days colder than 65°F when heating is required. Every degree below 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual HDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Hot Temperatures

²Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to cool a building. CDDs accumulate on days warmer than 65°F when cooling is required. Every degree above 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual CDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Growing Season Changes

Precipitation

Click on the following links to be taken to the corresponding portion of the page.

  • Monthly Average Precipitation – View a graph of the monthly low, average, and high precipitation climatology (average) of the past 30 years
  • How Precipitation is Changing
    • Changes in Total Precipitation – Includes a summary table of the average annual and seasonal precipitation changes.
    • Heavy Precipitation – View a bar chart of how annual number of days receiving more than 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, and 2 inches of precipitation are changing over the period of record.

Monthly Average Precipitation

Changes in Average Precipitation, 1951-2013.

 in.cm.%
Annual total precipitation5.012.717.30
Winter total precipitation1.23.045.50
Spring total precipitation2.77.033.60
Summer total precipitation-1.7-4.3-13.80
Fall total precipitation1.94.931.30

Heavy Precipitation