Bowman, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bowman's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 17.1 inches of precipitation and 48 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.7°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 28°C, 434 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBowman
- Station IDUSC00320995
- Location46.19°N 103.37°W
- Elevation2,983 ft (909 m)
- Population1,416
On October 23, the normal high in Bowman is 52°F and the normal low 27°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 Bowman.
- Jan 26° 7°
- Feb 30° 9°
- Mar 41° 18°
- Apr 53° 29°
- May 64° 40°
- Jun 74° 50°
- Jul 83° 56°
- Aug 82° 54°
- Sep 72° 43°
- Oct 56° 31°
- Nov 41° 19°
- Dec 30° 10°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Bowman each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.10 in), the least in December (0.50 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 7°F | 16.4°F | 0.56 | 7.6 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 30°F | 9°F | 19.4°F | 0.62 | 7.6 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 41°F | 18°F | 29.6°F | 0.80 | 7.4 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 29°F | 40.7°F | 1.56 | 8.0 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 40°F | 52.0°F | 2.72 | 1.9 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 74°F | 50°F | 62.1°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 83°F | 56°F | 69.2°F | 2.13 | 0.0 | 10 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 82°F | 54°F | 67.9°F | 1.41 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 72°F | 43°F | 57.7°F | 1.59 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 31°F | 43.1°F | 1.56 | 3.9 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 19°F | 29.7°F | 0.53 | 5.4 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 30°F | 10°F | 19.8°F | 0.50 | 6.4 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 30°F | 42.3°F | 17.08 | 48.2 | 96 | 21 | 191 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −14°C | −8.7°C | 14 mm | 19 cm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −7.0°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 5°C | −8°C | −1.3°C | 20 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 40 mm | 20 cm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 69 mm | 5 cm |
| June | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 13°C | 20.7°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 12°C | 19.9°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 14.3°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | −1°C | 6.2°C | 40 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 5°C | −7°C | −1.3°C | 13 mm | 14 cm |
| December | −1°C | −12°C | −6.8°C | 13 mm | 16 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00320995; 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.
When is the best weather to visit Bowman?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, 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 USC00320995.
When is the last frost in Bowman?
In Bowman, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 11 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
- May 161 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 11; 9 in 10 before October 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 132 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 150 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bowman in zone 4b in ZIP code 58623, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bowman's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (29 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00320995; 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 in Bowman?
In a normal year in Bowman, 21 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 191 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 191a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 67high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 19a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1915) is 112°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −43°F, on January 12, 1916.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 33.21 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 107.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00320995; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00320995. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bowman?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bowman, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 1.8 |
| February | 78% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.9 |
| June | 79% | 6.7 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 80% | 4.4 |
| October | 73% | 2.8 |
| November | 73% | 1.8 |
| December | 70% | 1.3 |
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 much heating and cooling does Bowman need?
A normal year in Bowman brings 8,638 heating degree days, 61% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 396 cooling degree days, 56% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,016 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,507 | 0 |
| February | 1,278 | 0 |
| March | 1,099 | 0 |
| April | 729 | 0 |
| May | 411 | 6 |
| June | 134 | 47 |
| July | 35 | 166 |
| August | 51 | 143 |
| September | 251 | 32 |
| October | 682 | 2 |
| November | 1,059 | 0 |
| December | 1,403 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,638 | 396 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00320995. 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.
Has Bowman been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 44.1°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 42.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.8°F | +3.5°F | 13.45 | 18.4 |
| 2022 | 41.8°F | −0.5°F | 16.72 | – |
| 2023 | 44.1°F | +1.8°F | 21.93 | – |
| 2024 | 45.8°F | +3.5°F | 11.66 | – |
| 2025 | 44.1°F | +1.8°F | 19.42 | – |
Over 70 complete years from 1915 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00320995; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bowman's climate compare?
Bowman is warmer than 67 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.3°F is warmer than 10%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bowman is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Bowman share this climate record?
2 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.
- Scranton, ND250 people · 11 mi E
- Rhame, ND156 people · 14 mi W
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 Bowman's climate
What is the coldest month in Bowman?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 56°F at night).
Does it snow in Bowman?
Yes: 48 inches in a normal year, falling on 34 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (8.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bowman?
June, with 3.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bowman in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bowman in zone 4b in ZIP code 58623, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bowman's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Bowman?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 29. Waiting until May 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Amidon, ND20 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Ludlow (3 mi SSE), SD28 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Ralph (1 mi N), SD32 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- New England, ND34 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made