How extreme does Rochester's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Rochester has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Rochester Intl Ap station 13 km away. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Rochester has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

102°F Jul 10, 1976

That is about 22°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Rochester (typical high near 80°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 102°F Jul 10, 1976

2 102°F Jul 31, 1988

3 101°F Jun 8, 1985

❄️ Coldest night

-35°F Feb 2, 1996

About 46°F colder than a normal February night in Rochester (typical low near 11°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -35°F Feb 2, 1996

2 -33°F Dec 19, 1983

3 -31°F Dec 18, 1983

🌧️ Most rain in one day

7.47 in Jul 11, 1981

More rain in a single day than Rochester usually gets in the whole month of July (typical July total about 4.2 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 7.47 in Jul 11, 1981

2 6.22 in Jul 5, 1978

3 5.98 in Sep 12, 1978

⛄ Most snow in one day

19.8 in Mar 18, 2005

Close to a whole typical March's snow in one day (Rochester averages about 9 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 19.8 in Mar 18, 2005

2 15.4 in Jan 22, 1982

3 15.0 in Dec 11, 2010

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Rochester's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 102°F is about 22°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Rochester's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the high 0s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 102°F and as low as −35°F. A single day has delivered over 7 inches of rain or close to 20 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Rochester Intl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014925), about 13 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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