GAYLORD, MI

Overview:
Gaylord, the county seat of Otsego County, is 35 miles east of Grand Traverse Bay, 60 miles west of Lake Huron, and in the heart of Michigan’s “Snow Belt.” Hartwick Pines State Park is approximately 28 miles to the south and is one of the last remaining stands of old-growth virgin Eastern white pine forest. Other prominent state and national forests surround Gaylord, and the nearby terrain is approximately 60% covered by forest.

Gaylord rarely experiences days above 90°F. However, on average the area experiences 164 days below freezing during the year. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year with highs coming in the spring and fall. There are large seasonal differences in temperature with summers being hot and often humid and winters being very cold.

State/ Province ID: MI

Station ID: C00203096

Directory Name: GAYLORD__MI_C00203096

Elevation: 401.70m

Climatology PDF: Array

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 Temperature	43.8°F6.6°C
Average Low Temperature	33.9°F1.1°C
Average High Temperature	53.7°12.1°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F	2.9
Days/Year that fall below 32°F	164.0
Lowest Annual Average Temperature	41.7°F5.4°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature	46.4°F8.0°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation	35.9 in91.1 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total	29.1 in73.9 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total	45.7 in116.2 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation	2.4

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	-0.4-0.2
Winter average temperature	1.10.6
Spring average temperature	-1.8-1.0
Summer average temperature	-0.5-0.3
Fall average temperature	-1.8-1.0

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