Climate and average weather in Marquette

In Marquette, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Marquette typically varies from 10°F to 74°F, and is rarely below -8°F or above 83°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Marquette for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
74°
Coldest
Jan
10°
Wettest
Sep
3.5 in
Driest
Feb
1.2 in
Rain / yr
31.0 in
124 wet days
Daylight
8.4–15.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
666 ft
46.5°N
Clearest
Jul
54% cloud

Marquette is city in the U.S. state of Michigan and County seat of Marquette County, Michigan.

Density
421/km²
people per km²
Founded
1849

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Marquette weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Marquette, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.1 months, from May 24 to September 26, with daily high temperatures above 61°F. The hottest month of the year in Marquette is July, with an average high of 74°F and low of 58°F.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from December 4 to March 11, with daily high temperatures below 32°F. The coldest month of the year in Marquette is January, with an average low of 10°F and high of 22°F.

Days typically run about 14°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 17°F) in May.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan2210
Feb2410
Mar3419
Apr4530
May5841
Jun6852
Jul7458
Aug7357
Sep6650
Oct5240
Nov3929
Dec2919

How hot and cold Marquette really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -5°F (around January 25), with roughly 199 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 119 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan2222-310
Feb2424-310
Mar3434819
Apr45452230
May58583641
Jun68685152
Jul74745858
Aug73735757
Sep66664850
Oct52523340
Nov39392029
Dec2929719

Average hourly temperature in Marquette

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 74°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 10°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Marquette weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan22° / 10°1.58.710.78.80.0
Feb24° / 10°1.26.47.3100.0
Mar34° / 19°1.98.8711.60.0
Apr45° / 30°2.710.65.413.31.1
May58° / 41°3.011.10.714.84.2
Jun68° / 52°3.211015.66.1
Jul74° / 58°3.211.4015.26.8
Aug73° / 57°3.110.70146.7
Sep66° / 50°3.511.6012.45.7
Oct52° / 40°3.513.61.510.72.6
Nov39° / 29°2.310.67.79.20.2
Dec29° / 19°1.89.811.38.40.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Marquette gets about 31.0 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 2.7 months, from around Sep 7 to Nov 26, peaking in October at about 45% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 10.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 3.5 in over about 12 wet days; February is the driest, with 1.2 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetOct 18 · 45%Feb 10 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan289
Feb236
Mar299
Apr3511
May3511
Jun3711
Jul3711
Aug3511
Sep3812
Oct4314
Nov3511
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Marquette collects about 31.0 in of rain across 124 wet days — roughly 2.6 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 3.5 in, while February is the driest at just 1.2 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.54JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.51.21.92.73.03.23.23.13.53.52.31.8
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1.5911
Feb1.267
Mar1.997
Apr2.7115
May3.0111
Jun3.2110
Jul3.2110
Aug3.1110
Sep3.5120
Oct3.5142
Nov2.3118
Dec1.81011

Snow in Marquette

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Marquette averages about 52 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 6 to May 18 — about 7.4 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 16 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 89 in of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 28
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan1116
Feb713
Mar714
Apr515
May11
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct22
Nov811
Dec1116

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Marquette, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around April 11 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around October 11. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 54% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 12 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around April 10. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 26 · 57%Jan 1 · 14%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1882
Feb2872
Mar3466
Apr3763
May4258
Jun4654
Jul5446
Aug5446
Sep4555
Oct3268
Nov2278
Dec1783

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 12, brings about 15 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.88:365:22
Feb10.08:046:05
Mar11.67:126:47
Apr13.36:107:30
May14.85:228:10
Jun15.65:028:38
Jul15.25:178:34
Aug14.05:537:54
Sep12.46:346:54
Oct10.77:155:54
Nov9.28:005:09
Dec8.48:344:58

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Marquette averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 11 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Apr 8 to Oct 5. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 3 sunny days — about 71% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 2811 daysJan 22 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Mixed
Jun9Mixed
Jul11Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep8Mixed
Oct5Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec3Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Marquette, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around June 11 to September 20. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 34% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 21 to June 10, and May is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 98% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 4 · 100%Jul 28 · 62%muggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr1000000
May944200
Jun67201030
Jul34332491
Aug37322380
Sep70181020
Oct972100
Nov1000000
Dec1000000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Marquette is typically light breeze, near 9 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Sep 10 to Mar 11. The windiest month is November, averaging about 10 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 12 to Sep 9, with June the calmest month at about 7 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyNov 16 · 10 mphJun 9 · 7 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan9light breeze
Feb9light breeze
Mar9light breeze
Apr8light breeze
May8light breeze
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug8light breeze
Sep9light breeze
Oct10light breeze
Nov10light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Best time to visit Marquette

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Marquette throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid September, Marquette is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Marquette for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 18 · 6.8

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.0poor
Apr1.2poor
May4.2fair
Jun6.1good
Jul6.7good
Aug6.7good
Sep5.7good
Oct2.6poor
Nov0.2poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Marquette for hot-weather activities is from late June to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 22 · 5.5

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Marquette, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 74°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 22°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Marquette sees daytime highs around 74°F and nights near 58°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Marquette

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 62°F and coldest in March near 34°F.

The water stays below 68°F all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

30°40°50°60°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan36Bracing
Feb35Bracing
Mar34Bracing
Apr35Bracing
May38Bracing
Jun43Bracing
Jul54Bracing
Aug62Cool
Sep59Cool
Oct51Bracing
Nov44Bracing
Dec40Bracing

UV index (midday) in Marquette by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Marquette peaks around June 17 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJun 17UV 8Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7High
Jun8Very high
Jul7Very high
Aug7High
Sep5High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Marquette

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar1.50
Apr5.50
May7.53
Jun8.55
Jul84
Aug72.5
Sep5.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Marquette typically lasts about 200 days, from around April 21 to November 6 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 15 to October 12.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1110%Apr 2150%May 1590%Oct 1290%Nov 650%Dec 1610%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan431
Feb328
Mar1231
Apr4330
May8910
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep990
Oct8518
Nov3630
Dec1031

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Marquette banks about 1,532 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May38
Jun297
Jul491
Aug462
Sep238
Oct6
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Marquette receives about 3.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.1 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 13 to Sep 16. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.2 kWh/m² — roughly 82% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 246.4 kWhDec 171.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.5Dim
Feb2.6Moderate
Mar4.0Bright
Apr5.2Bright
May6.0Bright
Jun6.4Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.3Bright
Sep3.9Moderate
Oct2.4Moderate
Nov1.5Dim
Dec1.1Dim

Where is Marquette?

Marquette sits at 46.5°N, 87.4°W, 666 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Mackinac Island, 141 mi away.

Topography around Marquette

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Marquette.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Marquette has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 410 ft around an average of 686 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,060 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,667 ft.

The land around Marquette is covered by water (38%), trees (32%) and artificial surfaces (21%) within 2 miles, trees (48%) and water (44%) within 10 miles, and trees (56%) and water (41%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
410 ft
10 miles
1,060 ft
50 miles
1,667 ft
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Mackinac Island 141 mi · Howard 142 mi · Green Bay 143 mi · Sault Ste. Marie 145 mi · Sault Ste. Marie 145 mi · Ashwaubenon 146 mi · Bellevue 147 mi · De Pere 149 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Marquette (46.5435°, -87.3954°, elevation 666 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).