NOAA NCEI Climate Normals 1991–2020
South Dakota Weather by Month
Temperature, rain and the hurricane season at 42 South Dakota stations, month by month.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
The median station records 23.0 inches of precipitation a year; Lead, SD records the most, 31.6 inches, and Pine Ridge Airport, SD the least, 16.7 (1.9 times as much). July is the hottest month at the median station (average high 86°F); the hottest July is at Winner, SD, 90°F. January is the coldest (average low 10°F); the coldest January nights are at Aberdeen, SD, 2°F. Highs reach 90°F on 26 days a year at the median station and on 46 at Pine Ridge Airport, SD, the most. Snowfall is heaviest at Lead, SD, 183.9 inches a year.
This page compares the 1991–2020 NOAA climate normals of 42 South Dakota weather stations, each the nearest station with full normals to at least one of the 61 South Dakota cities on this site that have one within 25 miles.
At the median station, June is the wettest month (3.7 inches) and January the driest (0.5). Station by station, the wettest month is June at 28 and May at 14 of the 42, and the driest January at 41 and November at 1. The gap between the wettest and driest station is widest in May: 2.3 inches.
Month by month across South Dakota
High, low and precipitation are the median of the 42 stations; the station columns name the station with the highest average high, the lowest average low, and the most and least precipitation that month, each linked to the city page it serves. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
South Dakota cities and their stations
| City | Station | Miles | Hottest month high °F | Coldest month low °F | Year precip. in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | Sioux Falls, SD | 4 | 85 | 9 | 27.8 |
How stations are matched to cities and what normals are: methodology · other states by month