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Cleveland weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Life on the shore of Lake Erie gives Cleveland cooler summers, gentler winters and, when the wind comes off the water just right, heavy lake-effect snow. Cleveland weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, extremes and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

+7.7°Fhigh well above average

67° / 38°Today
59° / 47°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+3.3°Faverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–4976frost days a year now (2016–2025) · 106 in the 1940sfrost days a year · 106 in the 1940s15days above 86°F a year now (2016–2025) · 11 in the 1940sdays above 86°F · 11 in the 1940s+3.3°F vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 3.3 incheshigh 33°low 22°February, rain 2.9 incheshigh 35°low 22°March, rain 3.7 incheshigh 44°low 30°April, rain 4.1 incheshigh 56°low 41°May, rain 4.0 incheshigh 68°low 53°June, rain 4.3 incheshigh 77°low 63°July, rain 4.1 incheshigh 81°low 68°August, rain 3.6 incheshigh 79°low 66°September, rain 3.4 incheshigh 73°low 59°October, rain 3.3 incheshigh 62°low 49°November, rain 3.7 incheshigh 49°low 39°December, rain 3.7 incheshigh 38°low 28°wettest month June, 4.3 inches · 44.1 inches a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Clear

Right now

66.6°

61°feels like
26%humidity
31°dew point
4 mphfrom N
UV index2.7
sunrise07:43sunset18:39day length10h 56m
TodayClear67°38°
TuePartly cloudy62°42°
WedClear59°44°
ThuClear61°51°
FriClear64°52°
SatClear65°50°
SunClear68°52°

On this date: October 19

Today (forecast)
67° / 38°
Average for October 19
59° / 47°

High well above average · +7.7°F

  • Highest since 1940: 79.8° · 1953
  • Lowest since 1940: 33.8° · 1972
  • One year ago: 73° / 56°

Every October 19 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 19 on record (n = 87). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Cleveland is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 41.50°N, 81.70°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
41.50°N, 81.70°W
Time zone
America/New York
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

18 of the last 31 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +2.3°F.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

Cleveland stands on the southern shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio, and the lake shapes almost everything about its weather. The climate is humid continental (Köppen Dfa, edging toward Cfa), but Erie blunts the extremes, keeping summers a touch cooler and winters a touch milder than places further inland. The price for that moderation is paid in snow.

From late autumn until the lake finally freezes over, cold air sweeping across the still-warm water soaks up moisture and unloads it downwind as lake-effect snow. The city marks the start of a snowbelt that stretches east along the shore, and totals rise sharply toward the higher ground of the eastern suburbs and the Heights, where a single storm can bury neighbourhoods the West Side barely notices. Once the lake ices over the snow machine shuts down, and spring and summer turn milder and wetter.

The warmest month is July, with typical afternoon highs of 81.0°F and nights around 67.7°F. Around 50 nights a year stay above 68°F. At the other extreme, January brings afternoon highs of about 33.2°F and typical overnight lows of 21.9°F.

Cleveland picks up roughly 44.1 inches a year, with a peak of 4.3 inches in June and as little as 2.9 inches in February. Precipitation falls on roughly 122 days in a typical year.

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Cleveland has climbed 3.3°F from the first ten years to the last ten. Frost days have thinned out, from around 105 a year in the first decade to about 75 now.

Sources:en.wikipedia.orgbritannica.comweather.gov

Climate graph (climograph)

July is the warmest month, January the coolest: a yearly swing of 47°F. Wettest month: June (~4.3 in). Whole year averages ~44.1 inches of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Rainy days by month

About 122 rainy days a year: most in April (~11), fewest in September (~8).

Bars = average number of days with ≥ 0.08 in per month. Hover for the monthly rainfall total.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Cleveland month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Highest and Lowest are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRainy daysDaylightHighestLowest
January33.2°21.9°3.3 in109.3 h68.2° (1950)−18.4° (1994)
February35.2°22.3°2.9 in910.4 h70.6° (2017)−10.3° (2015)
March44.0°30.1°3.7 in1011.7 h79.3° (2012)−5.0° (1980)
April56.2°41.2°4.1 in1113.1 h84.2° (1986)12.8° (1964)
May67.7°52.9°4.0 in1114.3 h92.9° (2012)32.7° (1943)
June77.4°63.2°4.3 in1115.0 h100.2° (1988)39.8° (1972)
July81.0°67.7°4.1 in1014.7 h100.0° (1988)51.1° (1963)
August79.2°66.3°3.6 in913.7 h95.2° (1953)45.8° (1982)
September73.0°59.4°3.4 in812.3 h96.2° (1953)40.8° (1942)
October61.8°48.7°3.3 in1010.9 h86.3° (1951)26.6° (1965)
November49.5°38.6°3.7 in119.6 h77.5° (1950)10.3° (1976)
December38.3°28.4°3.7 in119.0 h70.6° (1982)−7.2° (1983)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +3.3°F.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.37°F per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Mar–May is warming fastest: +0.55°F per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 86°F per year: 11.3 early in the record → 14.5 recently. Frost days: 106 → 76.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

Hottest day since 1940 in 1988, coldest in 1994: 100.2°F / −18.4°F.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~44.1 in/year on average. Last decade: +6% vs that average. Long-term trend: +0.51 in per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Cleveland

Which is the warmest month in Cleveland?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Cleveland is July (mean daily temperature of about 73.7°F) and the coolest is January (about 27.0°F).
How does today's temperature in Cleveland compare to the historical average?
On October 19, 2026, Cleveland is forecast to reach a high of 66.6°F and a low of 38.1°F. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 58.8°F and a low of 46.5°F, so today's high is 7.7°F warmer than that average.
How much has Cleveland warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Cleveland is about 3.3°F warmer.
How much does it rain in Cleveland?
Cleveland receives about 44.1 inches of precipitation per year on long-term average, with June typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Cleveland?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Cleveland is about 50.9°F. The warmest month is July and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Cleveland by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Cleveland (°F, full record since 1940): January 33°/22°, February 35°/22°, March 44°/30°, April 56°/41°, May 68°/53°, June 77°/63°, July 81°/68°, August 79°/66°, September 73°/59°, October 62°/49°, November 49°/39°, December 38°/28°.
What is the weather like in Cleveland in summer?
In summer, June through August, Cleveland is wet and warm. Daytime highs sit at 77–81°F and nights at 63–68°F; July is the warmest month. Rain falls on about 10 days a month, adding up to around 4.0 inches.
What is the weather like in Cleveland in winter?
December to February is winter in Cleveland, and it is cold, with afternoons close to freezing. Afternoons run 33–38°F and nights 22–28°F; January is the coldest month. Rain and snow fall on about 10 days a month, adding up to around 3.3 inches.
What is the weather like in Cleveland in spring?
In spring, March through May, Cleveland is cool. It warms from 44°F by day and 30°F at night in March to 68°F and 53°F in May. Rain falls on about 11 days a month, adding up to around 3.9 inches.
What is the weather like in Cleveland in autumn?
September to November is autumn in Cleveland, and it is fairly mild. September is still 73°F by day and 59°F at night; by November it is down to 49°F and 39°F. Rain is steady at around 3.5 inches a month, spread over roughly 10 days.
How many days a year does it rain in Cleveland?
On long-term average, Cleveland has about 122 days a year with at least 0.08 inches of rain or snow. The annual total is roughly 44.1 inches.

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