Academy (2 mi NE), South Dakota climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Academy (2 mi NE)'s normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 24.0 inches of precipitation and 42 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.7°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 609 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAcademy (2 mi NE)
- Station IDUSC00390043
- Location43.49°N 99.06°W
- Elevation1,681 ft (512 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Academy (2 mi NE) is 58°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Academy (2 mi NE).
- Jan 30° 11°
- Feb 35° 14°
- Mar 46° 24°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 80° 58°
- Jul 87° 63°
- Aug 85° 60°
- Sep 77° 51°
- Oct 62° 37°
- Nov 46° 25°
- Dec 33° 15°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Academy (2 mi NE) each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.89 in), the least in December (0.50 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 11°F | 20.3°F | 0.51 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 14°F | 24.4°F | 0.58 | 7.7 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 46°F | 24°F | 35.0°F | 1.12 | 6.5 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 2.68 | 6.8 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 57.9°F | 3.53 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 80°F | 58°F | 68.8°F | 3.89 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 87°F | 63°F | 74.8°F | 3.03 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 85°F | 60°F | 72.5°F | 2.99 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 51°F | 63.8°F | 2.54 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 37°F | 49.3°F | 1.82 | 1.1 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 25°F | 35.5°F | 0.80 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 33°F | 15°F | 24.1°F | 0.50 | 8.2 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 37°F | 47.7°F | 23.99 | 41.5 | 91 | 30 | 167 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.5°C | 13 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 15 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 8°C | −5°C | 1.7°C | 28 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 68 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.5°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 10°C | 17.7°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 46 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 20 mm | 14 cm |
| December | 1°C | −10°C | −4.4°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00390043; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
Which months are mildest at Academy (2 mi NE)?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00390043.
When is the last frost at Academy (2 mi NE)?
In Academy (2 mi NE), the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 24 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 301 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 159 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Academy (2 mi NE) in zone 5a in ZIP code 57369, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00390043; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get at Academy (2 mi NE)?
In a normal year in Academy (2 mi NE), 30 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 167 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 30a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 167a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 57high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1898) is 116°F, on July 24, 1940; the lowest is −37°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 40.22 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 94.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00390043; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00390043. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Academy (2 mi NE)?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Academy (2 mi NE), 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.0 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.7 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.6 |
| October | 76% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.1 |
| December | 72% | 1.6 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How many heating and cooling degree days does Academy (2 mi NE) record?
A normal year at Academy (2 mi NE) brings 7,117 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 859 cooling degree days, 5% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,968 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,386 | 0 |
| February | 1,138 | 0 |
| March | 931 | 0 |
| April | 564 | 3 |
| May | 256 | 35 |
| June | 44 | 158 |
| July | 7 | 311 |
| August | 15 | 247 |
| September | 132 | 98 |
| October | 493 | 8 |
| November | 885 | 0 |
| December | 1,268 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,117 | 859 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00390043. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Have recent years at Academy (2 mi NE) been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 49.2°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.1°F | +2.4°F | 16.61 | 33.1 |
| 2022 | 47.2°F | −0.5°F | 18.86 | 23.9 |
| 2023 | 48.7°F | +1.0°F | 26.45 | 55.7 |
| 2024 | 49.4°F | +1.7°F | 23.09 | 34.3 |
| 2025 | 49.2°F | +1.5°F | 24.63 | 30.5 |
Over 105 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00390043; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Academy (2 mi NE)'s climate compare?
Academy (2 mi NE) is warmer than 83 of the 100 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 60. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.7°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Academy (2 mi NE) is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Academy (2 mi NE) share this climate record?
4 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Platte, SD1,249 people · 13 mi SE
- Bijou Hills, SD0 people · 5 mi NW
- Ola, SD0 people · 11 mi NW
- Platte Colony, SD0 people · 3 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Academy (2 mi NE)'s climate
What is the coldest month at Academy (2 mi NE)?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow at Academy (2 mi NE)?
Yes: 42 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Academy (2 mi NE)?
June, with 3.89 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Academy (2 mi NE) in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Academy (2 mi NE) in zone 5a in ZIP code 57369, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come at Academy (2 mi NE)?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Chamberlain, SD23 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- White Lake, SD24 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Gregory, SD25 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Bonesteel, SD29 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made