Bridgewater, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bridgewater's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 27.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.0°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 29°C, 709 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBridgewater
- Station IDUSC00391032
- Location43.55°N 97.50°W
- Elevation1,417 ft (432 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population505
On October 23, the normal high in Bridgewater is 57°F and the normal low 34°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bridgewater.
- Jan 26° 8°
- Feb 32° 12°
- Mar 44° 23°
- Apr 57° 35°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 80° 59°
- Jul 85° 63°
- Aug 82° 60°
- Sep 75° 51°
- Oct 61° 37°
- Nov 44° 24°
- Dec 30° 13°
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 Bridgewater each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.23 in), the least in January (0.59 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 8°F | 16.9°F | 0.59 | – | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 12°F | 21.6°F | 0.70 | – | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 23°F | 33.0°F | 1.25 | – | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 35°F | 45.9°F | 2.99 | – | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.2°F | 3.97 | – | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 80°F | 59°F | 69.4°F | 4.23 | – | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 63°F | 73.8°F | 3.41 | – | 8 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 82°F | 60°F | 71.3°F | 3.73 | – | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 51°F | 62.8°F | 3.03 | – | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 37°F | 48.8°F | 2.27 | – | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 24°F | 33.9°F | 0.94 | – | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 30°F | 13°F | 21.6°F | 0.79 | – | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 36°F | 46.4°F | 27.90 | – | 19 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −8.4°C | 15 mm |
| February | 0°C | −11°C | −5.8°C | 18 mm |
| March | 6°C | −5°C | 0.6°C | 32 mm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 76 mm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 101 mm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 107 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 87 mm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 95 mm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 17.1°C | 77 mm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 58 mm |
| November | 7°C | −5°C | 1.1°C | 24 mm |
| December | −1°C | −11°C | −5.8°C | 20 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Alexandria (16 miles away), gets 36 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391032; 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 Bridgewater?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September.
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 USC00391032.
When is the last frost in Bridgewater?
In Bridgewater, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 25 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 11; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 161 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 181 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bridgewater in zone 5a in ZIP code 57319, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bridgewater's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (16 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00391032; 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 Bridgewater?
In a normal year in Bridgewater, 19 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more) and 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 67high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 107°F, on August 3, 2022; the lowest is −35°F, on January 19, 1970.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 43.55 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 95.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00391032; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00391032. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bridgewater?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bridgewater, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.0 |
| February | 79% | 3.1 |
| March | 71% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 82% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 74% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.1 |
| December | 71% | 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 much heating and cooling does Bridgewater need?
A normal year in Bridgewater brings 7,504 heating degree days, 40% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 780 cooling degree days, 14% 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 2,858 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,489 | 0 |
| February | 1,215 | 0 |
| March | 991 | 0 |
| April | 576 | 3 |
| May | 249 | 39 |
| June | 38 | 169 |
| July | 7 | 281 |
| August | 14 | 207 |
| September | 142 | 76 |
| October | 506 | 6 |
| November | 932 | 0 |
| December | 1,347 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,504 | 780 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391032. 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 Bridgewater been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.0°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.1°F | +2.7°F | 21.47 |
| 2022 | 46.0°F | −0.4°F | 17.15 |
| 2023 | 47.7°F | +1.3°F | 23.94 |
| 2024 | 49.1°F | +2.7°F | 28.64 |
| 2025 | 48.0°F | +1.6°F | 26.80 |
Over 44 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.5°F per century (+0.25°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00391032; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bridgewater's climate compare?
Bridgewater is warmer than 61 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 89. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.4°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bridgewater 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 Bridgewater share this climate record?
5 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.
- Parker, SD1,306 people · 21 mi SE
- Marion, SD880 people · 15 mi SE
- Emery, SD473 people · 7 mi NW
- Monroe, SD163 people · 15 mi E
- Dolton, SD36 people · 7 mi SE
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 Bridgewater's climate
What is the coldest month in Bridgewater?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Bridgewater?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Bridgewater's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Alexandria (16 miles away), records 36 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Bridgewater?
June, with 4.23 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.59 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bridgewater in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bridgewater in zone 5a in ZIP code 57319, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bridgewater's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Bridgewater?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 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
- Alexandria, SD16 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Salem, SD16 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Menno, SD22 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Montrose, SD24 miles from this station, 45.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made