Weather in South Dakota

Calculated from weather data of Joe Foss Field (KFSD) between 2020 and 2024.

Maximum temperatures (°F)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	28.0	26.0	26.0	32.0	32.0	28.0
February	32.0	47.0	32.0	34.0	22.0	33.0
March	45.0	53.0	36.0	46.0	54.0	49.0
April	58.0	63.0	61.0	56.0	60.0	60.0
May	71.0		79.0	72.0	71.0	67.0
June	85.0		87.0	85.0	89.0	86.0
July	86.0		87.0	88.0	87.0	87.0
August	83.0		88.0	85.0	84.0	86.0
September	78.0		83.0	81.0	80.0	76.0
October	60.0		63.0	67.0	65.0	55.0
November	47.0		54.0	44.0	50.0	51.0
December	36.0		44.0	29.0	39.0	38.0
Average	58.0	47.0	62.0	61.0	61.0	60.0

Average highest temperature per day

The maximum temperature is typically observed some hours after noon.

Minimum temperatures (°F)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	12.0	12	11	8	20	14
February	13.0	26	11	10	6	16
March	27.0	28	21	26	31	30
April	36.0	41	38	33	38	34
May	50.0		54	50	50	50
June	63.0		64	63	63	65
July	66.0		63	67	66	67
August	63.0		65	64	65	65
September	57.0		59	55	56	53
October	40.0		43	40	45	36
November	27.0		29	25	29	30
December	19.0		26	15	20	19
Average	38.0	27.0	41.0	39.0	41.0	40.0

Average lowest temperature per day

The minimum temperature is typically observed just before sunrise.

Cold and hot days

Number of days	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
86 °F or warmer	1	69	60	52	55
77 °F or warmer	4	137	120	125	113
68 °F or warmer	11	168	158	160	156
32 °F or colder	72	144	141	130	146

Precipitation (%)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	14.8	25	22	13	14	15
February	13.6	6	14	13	15	3
March	13.5	13	19	6	15	13
April	13.4	12	16	16	8	7
May	8.8		5	4	10	12
June	4.2		3	5	2	3
July	2.9		4	4	6	1
August	4.2		4	6	1	1
September	4.9		3	3	5	5
October	9.8		9	3	9	10
November	9.1		4	15	7	6
December	14.4		11	35	9	9
Average	9.6	13.8	9.2	8.8	7.9	6.8

Precipitation during daylight period

Percentage of observations with observed rain, drizzle, snow or hail. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Wind speed (miles per hour)

Month	Average	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	10.7	10	9	12	11	11
February	11.5	12	11	14	9	11
March	13.1	14	13	14	14	13
April	14.1	16	15	18	14	12
May	11.0		11	12	11	11
June	10.2		8	11	9	12
July	9.1		8	10	9	10
August	9.5		10	10	11	11
September	10.8		9	10	11	12
October	11.7		12	12	10	12
November	11.8		12	13	12	11
December	10.9		9	13	11	11
Average	11.4	12.8	10.7	12.2	10.9	11.4

Average wind speed

Excluding wind gusts. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

Prevailing wind direction

Month	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
January	NW	NW	W	NW	NW
February	W	N	NW	W	NW
March	N	N	N	SE	E
April	NW	NW	NW	NW	NW
May		SE	SW	SE	N
June		SE	SW	S	S
July		S	SW	SE	S
August		SE	S	SE	S
September		S	S	S	SW
October		NW	W	S	NW
November		W	W	W	SW
December		NW	NW	NW	W

Prevailing wind direction

Average wind direction, weighed by wind speed. Only observations between sunrise and sunset are taken into account.

South Dakota weather Q&A

What is the warmest month in South Dakota?

The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 86 °F over the past years.

What is the coldest month in South Dakota?

The coldest month is January with an average daytime temperature of 28 °F in the past few years.

Which month is the wettest in South Dakota?

Chance of precipitation is the highest in January with a probability of around 14.9 %.

Which month is the driest in South Dakota?

The least rainfall and snow can be expected in July. The probability is about 2.9 %.