SAULT STE. MARIE, MI

Overview:
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is located on the St. Marys River at the eastern edge of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan between the intersection of Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The lakes regulate the temperature and precipitation throughout the year, with Lake Superior as the dominant climatic controller for the area.

Summer temperatures rarely go above 90°F, and the winters are cold and mostly cloudy. Precipitation varies throughout the year, with southeasterly winds causing summer rains, and northwest winds causing snow during the winter. Winter snowfall ranges from 30 to 175 inches for a given year.

State/ Province ID: MI

Station ID: W00014847

Directory Name: SAULT_STE_MARIE_SANDERSON_FLD__MI_W00014847

Elevation: 220.10m

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	42.1°F5.6°C
Average Low Temperature	33.4°F0.8°C
Average High Temperature	50.8°10.4°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F	0.8
Days/Year that fall below 32°F	155.2
Lowest Annual Average Temperature	38.3°F3.5°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature	45.6°F7.6°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation	34.4 in87.5 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total	22.4 in57.0 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total	48.8 in123.9 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation	2.6

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 temperature	4.52.5
Winter average temperature	5.73.2
Spring average temperature	3.82.1
Summer average temperature	4.42.4
Fall average temperature	4.22.3

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