Britton, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Britton's normal year runs from 0°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 24.3 inches of precipitation and 45 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.7°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 28°C, 616 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBritton
- Station IDUSC00391049
- Location45.79°N 97.75°W
- Elevation1,355 ft (413 m)
- Population1,199
On October 23, the normal high in Britton is 53°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Britton.
- Jan 20° 0°
- Feb 25° 5°
- Mar 39° 18°
- Apr 55° 30°
- May 68° 43°
- Jun 78° 54°
- Jul 83° 58°
- Aug 81° 56°
- Sep 73° 47°
- Oct 57° 34°
- Nov 39° 19°
- Dec 26° 7°
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 Britton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 0°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.41 in), the least in February (0.64 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°F | 0°F | 10.4°F | 0.66 | 8.3 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 25°F | 5°F | 15.0°F | 0.64 | 9.8 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 18°F | 28.2°F | 0.87 | 6.1 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 30°F | 42.5°F | 1.96 | 5.1 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 43°F | 55.6°F | 3.04 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 78°F | 54°F | 65.8°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 83°F | 58°F | 70.4°F | 4.41 | 0.0 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 56°F | 68.5°F | 2.50 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 73°F | 47°F | 59.8°F | 2.56 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 34°F | 45.4°F | 2.15 | 1.2 | 7 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 19°F | 29.3°F | 0.69 | 5.1 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 26°F | 7°F | 16.3°F | 0.66 | 9.8 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 31°F | 42.3°F | 24.27 | 45.4 | 82 | 16 | 170 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −18°C | −12.0°C | 17 mm | 21 cm |
| February | −4°C | −15°C | −9.4°C | 16 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 4°C | −8°C | −2.1°C | 22 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.8°C | 50 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.3°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 13°C | 20.3°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 55 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 4°C | −7°C | −1.5°C | 18 mm | 13 cm |
| December | −4°C | −14°C | −8.7°C | 17 mm | 25 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391049; 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 Britton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, 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 USC00391049.
When is the last frost in Britton?
In Britton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 13 in half of years and after May 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 26 in half of years and before September 14 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 131 year in 10 after May 27; 9 in 10 after April 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 261 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 135 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 153 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 2 in half of springs and before October 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Britton in zone 4a in ZIP code 57430, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Britton's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°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 USC00391049; 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 Britton?
In a normal year in Britton, 16 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 170 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 170a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 80high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 114°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −44°F, on January 13, 1916.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2009, with 34.26 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 104.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00391049; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00391049. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Britton?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Britton, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 1.9 |
| February | 82% | 3.0 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.2 |
| October | 70% | 2.7 |
| November | 70% | 1.8 |
| December | 65% | 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 Britton need?
A normal year in Britton brings 8,744 heating degree days, 63% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 505 cooling degree days, 44% 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 2,347 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,692 | 0 |
| February | 1,400 | 0 |
| March | 1,142 | 0 |
| April | 675 | 1 |
| May | 313 | 22 |
| June | 74 | 98 |
| July | 22 | 189 |
| August | 36 | 146 |
| September | 201 | 46 |
| October | 609 | 3 |
| November | 1,071 | 0 |
| December | 1,508 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,744 | 505 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391049. 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 Britton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 43.3°F, 1.0°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 | 45.0°F | +2.7°F | 22.94 | 35.8 |
| 2022 | 40.4°F | −1.9°F | 19.77 | 61.2 |
| 2023 | 43.0°F | +0.8°F | 19.81 | 69.4 |
| 2024 | 45.2°F | +2.9°F | 23.73 | 19.9 |
| 2025 | 43.3°F | +1.0°F | 33.92 | 38.7 |
Over 92 complete years from 1915 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00391049; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Britton's climate compare?
Britton is warmer than 2 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 61. 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, Britton 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 Britton 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.
- Langford, SD278 people · 13 mi S
- Havana, ND63 people · 13 mi NE
- Sunset Colony, SD61 people · 7 mi W
- Newport Colony, SD0 people · 12 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 Britton's climate
What is the coldest month in Britton?
January, with a normal high of 20°F and a normal low of 0°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Britton?
Yes: 45 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (9.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Britton?
July, with 4.41 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.64 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Britton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Britton in zone 4a in ZIP code 57430, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Britton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Britton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 27. Waiting until May 27 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
- Roy Lake, SD16 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Forman, ND19 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Andover, SD27 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- Columbia, SD27 miles from this station, 42.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made