FARIBAULT, MN

Overview:
Faribault, Minnesota is the county seat of Rice County, and it is located approximately 50 miles south of the Twin Cities. The city is located at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers, which are part of the Mississippi River watershed. Several lakes are found to the west of Faribault, while wooded areas such as Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park can be found to the east.

The climate in the region is characterized by large temperature shifts from season to season, especially between summer and winter. Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cold and snowy. Cold arctic air masses are transported south toward the region during the winter, due to the surrounding flat terrain with no natural barriers to block it. Thunderstorms bringing heavy rainfall are common in the spring, summer, and autumn, with nearly half of annual precipitation typically occurring during the summer months of July to August. Snowfall is common during winter, though is not as heavy as in more northern regions in the state.

 

State/ Province ID: MN

Station ID: C00212721

Directory Name: FARIBAULT__MN_C00212721

Elevation: 295.70m

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 Temperature44.3°F6.8°C
Average Low Temperature33.8°F1.0°C
Average High Temperature54.8°12.7°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F8.1 
Days/Year that fall below 32°F160.7 
Lowest Annual Average Temperature40.9°F4.9°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature48.5°F9.1°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation32.7 in83.0 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total21.1 in53.5 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total41.4 in105.1 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation4.2 

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, 1951-2020.

 °F°C
Annual average temperature-1.3-0.7
Winter average temperature0.70.4
Spring average temperature-0.10.0
Summer average temperature-2.5-1.4
Fall average temperature-1.7-0.9

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, 1951-2020.

 in.cm.%
Annual total precipitation7.719.625.00
Winter total precipitation1.02.638.30
Spring total precipitation2.25.626.90
Summer total precipitation2.35.717.40
Fall total precipitation2.15.229.50

Heavy Precipitation