Cost to Own
United States › Minnesota › Rice County › Climate Station FARIBAULT, MN US Distance 3.3 mi Normals 1991 to 2020
This weather has a price Keeping the median Rice County home comfortable runs roughly $585 a year in heating and cooling alone. See where it lands in the monthly bill

30-year climate normals

Rice County Climate and Weather Averages

Hottest month: July

82.0°

average daily high. The coldest month is January, averaging a low of 4.8°F.

Rice County gets 35.45" of precipitation a year and 43.3" of snow, and 42% of it falls in Jun, Jul, Aug.

Temperature through the year

Each bar spans the average daily low to the average daily high for that month.

20° 40° 60° 80° JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
MonthAvg highAvg low PrecipSnow
January 23.2° 4.8° 0.97" 9.4"
February 28.0° 7.9° 1.00" 10.6"
March 40.4° 20.4° 1.92" 6.4"
April 55.5° 32.9° 3.13" 1.6"
May 68.2° 45.2° 4.37" 0.2"
June 78.4° 57.2° 5.57" 0.0"
July 82.0° 60.6° 4.64" 0.0"
August 79.9° 57.9° 4.66" 0.0"
September 72.7° 49.7° 3.68" 0.0"
October 58.9° 35.7° 2.60" 0.1"
November 42.4° 23.8° 1.67" 4.9"
December 28.9° 12.6° 1.24" 10.1"

Rainfall by month

Precipitation is spread fairly evenly through the year here, with 42% falling in the wettest three months (Jun, Jul, Aug).

January 0.97"
February 1.00"
March 1.92"
April 3.13"
May 4.37"
June 5.57"
July 4.64"
August 4.66"
September 3.68"
October 2.60"
November 1.67"
December 1.24"
Annual total 35.45"

What this climate costs you

Degree days measure how hard a building has to work to stay comfortable. They are the reason two identical houses have very different power bills, and they are the link between the weather here and what you pay every month.

Cooling degree days How much air conditioning the climate demands 589
Heating degree days How much heating the climate demands 8,032
Approximate annual cooling cost At 17.2¢/kWh, Minnesota average $101
Approximate annual electric heating cost Lower where heating is gas rather than electric $484

These are rough planning figures from degree days and the state electricity price, not a bill estimate. House size, insulation and fuel type move them a lot. See the full cost of owning a home in Rice County, where electricity is one line of eight.

Common questions

What is the weather like in Rice County?

Rice County averages a high of 82.0°F in July and a low of 4.8°F in January. Annual precipitation is 35.45 inches, including 43.3 inches of snow.

When is the rainy season in Rice County?

The wettest stretch is Jun, Jul, Aug, which accounts for 42% of the year's precipitation. Precipitation is relatively evenly distributed across the year.

How hot does it get in Rice County?

The average daily high in July, the hottest month, is 82.0°F. That drives 589 cooling degree days a year, which is what your air conditioning has to work against.

Does it snow in Rice County?

Yes. Rice County averages 43.3 inches of snow a year.

Sources

  • Temperature, precipitation and snowfall normals: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991 to 2020 Monthly Climate Normals, station FARIBAULT, MN US (USC00212721), 3.3 miles from the county centroid.
  • Heating and cooling degree days: NOAA, same station and period.
  • Annual figures on this page are the sum of that station's twelve monthly normals. NOAA also publishes a separately-computed annual normal, which can differ from the monthly sum by a few percent; we use the monthly series because the month-by-month breakdown above has to come from it.
  • Electricity price: US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, Minnesota residential average.
  • Wet-season share is the wettest three consecutive months as a percentage of annual precipitation, calculated from the monthly normals.