Weather in Grand Rapids in August

A good month. August is a solid month to be in Grand Rapids. Highs average 26.6 °C, lows 16 °C, and rain falls on 12 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

August ranks 4 of 12 in Grand Rapids: past the worst of the year but short of July, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 12 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest August day reached 34.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 6.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 43 mm — roughly 49% of the month's rain in one day.

August is moderately variable: 29 mm in the driest year against 170 mm in the wettest, around an average of 87 mm. Roughly two Augusts in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 8.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 74%.

How August sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 26.9 °C in July, 26.6 here, 23.4 in September. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in August

14 hours of daylight, losing 1.3 hours across the month. That is between Grand Rapids's extremes of 15.3 and 9 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 35.3 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

August in Grand Rapids versus nearby

If Grand Rapids is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Milwaukee is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Chicago is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: August is effectively as good as it gets here — 3 points behind July, which is inside the margin where the weather stops being the deciding factor and price starts being it.

Every month in Grand Rapids

See all twelve months in Grand Rapids, or where else to go in August.