When to paint a house exterior in Moorhead, MN
When to paint in Moorhead, MN
A short season: book early and expect weather delays. The painting window is July to August, with 2 good months a year. The best month is July, at about 16 painting days. Book a painter by May.
If you want the house done in July to August, call for quotes in May or earlier; a job pushed past August is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 3May
- 11Jun
- 16Jul
- 15Aug
- 10Sep
- 2Oct
- under 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 4° / 23°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 3° / 26°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 18° / 41°F |
| April | 1 | under 1 | 4 | 30° / 55°F |
| May | 3 | 3 | 13 | 44° / 73°F |
| June | 11 | 6 | 15 | 56° / 84°F |
| July | 16 | 11 | 17 | 60° / 86°F |
| August | 15 | 13 | 18 | 56° / 83°F |
| September | 10 | 9 | 19 | 51° / 77°F |
| October | 2 | 2 | 11 | 36° / 60°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 23° / 43°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 10° / 29°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 43 days a year here.
Towns near Moorhead compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Fergus Falls (72 a year, 51 miles southeast). A gap like that between towns is usually elevation, a coast or a lake, which is why a painter from a few towns over can be on a different schedule. Fargo, West Fargo are read from the same station as Moorhead, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Moorhead | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fargo, ND | 4 mi west | 57 | July to August | same station |
| West Fargo, ND | 8 mi west | 57 | July to August | same station |
| Detroit Lakes, MN | 43 mi east | 58 | July to August | Pk Rpds Municipal-Konshok Fd Airport |
| Fergus Falls, MN | 51 mi southeast | 72 | June to September | Chandler Field Airport |
| Grand Forks, ND | 75 mi north | 59 | July to August | Grand Forks International Air |
| Jamestown, ND | 92 mi west | 60 | June to August | Jamestown Regional Airport |
How Moorhead ranks in MN
Of 103 MN places with 10,000 people or more, Moorhead (population 45,726, 23rd largest) ranks 98th for painting days, 16 days below the state median of 73. The longest season in the state is Owatonna, 100 days, 256 miles southeast. The shortest is Hibbing at 23. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 43 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Hector International Airport (5.2 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.