Climate averages 1991–2020
Minneapolis weather
in December.
A freezing month with light precipitation: the 11th warmest and the 3rd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a freezing month in Minneapolis: daytime highs average -2.5°C and nights cool to about -9.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 35 mm of precipitation on roughly 6 days, which makes December a month with light precipitation (the 3rd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 51 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Saint Paul (14 km away). In December its highs average -2.2°C, about as warm as Minneapolis, with 35 mm of precipitation.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Minneapolis ranks joint 492nd of 498 for the warmest December highs and joint 66th of 498 for the driest December (precipitation, lowest first). The mean December high of those 498 cities is 10.5°C; Minneapolis is 13.0°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 2.9°C to -5.3°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 35 mm to 24 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly precipitation
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Minneapolis climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -5.3°C-13.7°C | -13.7°C | 24 | 5.8 | 9.29 h |
| February | -2.3°C-11.4°C | -11.4°C | 26 | 4.9 | 10.410 h |
| March | 4.9°C-4.8°C | -4.8°C | 51 | 7.6 | 11.912 h |
| April | 12.5°C2.4°C | 2.4°C | 81 | 10.6 | 13.513 h |
| May | 19.5°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 110 | 11.9 | 14.815 h |
| June | 24.9°C15.8°C | 15.8°C | 110 | 12.1 | 15.516 h |
| July | 27.4°C18.6°C | 18.6°C | 90 | 10.6 | 15.215 h |
| August | 26.2°C17.6°C | 17.6°C | 98 | 10.0 | 14.114 h |
| September | 21.8°C13.4°C | 13.4°C | 84 | 9.4 | 12.613 h |
| October | 13.6°C6.0°C | 6.0°C | 67 | 8.8 | 11.011 h |
| November | 4.7°C-2.1°C | -2.1°C | 49 | 6.9 | 9.610 h |
| December, selected | -2.5°C-9.7°C | -9.7°C | 35 | 6.1 | 8.89 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Saint Paul in DecemberUnited States · 14 kmHigh -2.2°C · Low -9.6°C · 35 mm precipitation
- Brooklyn Park in DecemberUnited States · 15 kmHigh -2.5°C · Low -9.8°C · 35 mm precipitation
- Plymouth, United States in DecemberUnited States · 15 kmHigh -2.5°C · Low -9.6°C · 34 mm precipitation
- Bloomington (Minnesota), United States in DecemberUnited States · 16 kmHigh -2.2°C · Low -9.4°C · 36 mm precipitation
- Rochester (Minnesota), United States in DecemberUnited States · 124 kmHigh -1.9°C · Low -9.2°C · 37 mm precipitation
- Duluth in DecemberUnited States · 220 kmHigh -3.2°C · Low -8.8°C · 45 mm precipitation
- Sioux Falls in DecemberUnited States · 319 kmHigh -1.3°C · Low -9.5°C · 27 mm precipitation
- Fargo in DecemberUnited States · 345 kmHigh -4.7°C · Low -12.7°C · 24 mm precipitation
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Minneapolis) is explained once on the Minneapolis year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Brooklyn Park lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.