GRAND RAPIDS, MN

Overview:
Grand Rapids, Minnesota is the county seat of Itasca County, located in the northern region of the state. The county is known for containing over 1,000 lakes within its limits, many of which surround the city. The northern stretch of the Mississippi River also passes east through the city from its source in Lake Itasca.

Falling within the Iron Range of Minnesota, Grand Rapids has warm summers and cold, long, and snowy winters. Nearly half of annual total precipitation falls as rain during the summer months, largely influenced by warm air currents traveling upwards into the region from the Gulf of Mexico. Winters are influenced by cold polar air masses flowing south into the region from Canada. The region experiences greater amounts of snow during the winter than more central and southern parts of the state, though snowfall levels fall short of those in the snow belt region surrounding Lake Superior.

State/ Province ID: MN

Station ID: C00213303

Directory Name: GRAND_RPDS_FOREST_LAB_HCN_MN_C00213303

Elevation: 399.30m

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.

Jump

Recent Climate Summary, 1991-2020

Average Temperature41.0°F5.0°C
Average Low Temperature29.9°F-1.2°C
Average High Temperature52.0°11.1°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F4.1 
Days/Year that fall below 32°F178.8 
Lowest Annual Average Temperature36.6°F2.5°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature44.7°F7.0°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation29.3 in74.5 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total20.7 in52.6 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total37.4 in95.1 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation3.3 

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, 1951-2025.

 °F°C
Annual average temperature2.71.5
Winter average temperature3.92.2
Spring average temperature2.41.3
Summer average temperature2.71.5
Fall average temperature1.91.1

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, 1951-2025.

 in.cm.%
Annual total precipitation4.511.517.20
Winter total precipitation1.33.353.10
Spring total precipitation0.71.810.80
Summer total precipitation-0.1-0.2-0.80
Fall total precipitation1.53.924.60

Heavy Precipitation