Weather in Minneapolis in February

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, February is the one to avoid. Highs sit at -3.4 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

February ranks 11 of 12 — near the bottom of Minneapolis's year. September is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 53 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain falls on only 5 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at -3.4 °C the difference between a good day and a miserable one is entirely down to what you are wearing.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 28 nights drop below freezing, so anything left outside stays frozen. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 15.2 °C and the coldest night fell to -32.5 °C.

February is moderately variable: 5 mm in the driest year against 65 mm in the wettest, around an average of 27 mm. Roughly two Februarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 11.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 86%, which at -3.4 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How February sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2.2 °C warmer than January, and March adds another 8.7 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in February

10.4 hours of daylight, gaining 1.4 hours across the month. That is between Minneapolis's extremes of 15.6 and 8.8 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Minneapolis has no sea to moderate it, and it shows: 43.8 °C separates the hottest afternoon of the year from the coldest night. That is a genuinely continental range, and it means summer and winter here are barely the same place.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

February in Minneapolis versus nearby

If Minneapolis is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Sioux Falls is close enough to be a coin toss — 3 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Des Moines is close enough to be a coin toss — 5 °C warmer, 1 day more rain.

So: February is a compromise. September is 51 points better and is what Minneapolis is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Minneapolis

See all twelve months in Minneapolis, or where else to go in February.