Weather in Minneapolis in July

A good month. July works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 28.5 °C, lows 16.8 °C, and rain falls on 11 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

July ranks 5 of 12 in Minneapolis: past the worst of the year but short of September, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 11 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 28.5 °C days and 16.8 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 10 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest July day reached 41.7 °C and the coldest night fell to 8.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 74 mm — roughly 79% of the month's rain in one day.

July is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest July on record still delivered 169 mm against 30 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 94 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 70%.

How July sits in the year

This is a turning point in the year — June and August sit on opposite sides of it, so the month contains the change rather than following it.

Daylight in July

July is at or near the longest days of Minneapolis's year: 15.3 hours of daylight, losing 0.8 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

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

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.

July 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 — 2.2 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Des Moines is the weaker option in July — 2 °C warmer, 1 day more rain.

So: July works, with September the better month by 9 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Minneapolis

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