Canton, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Canton's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 27.8 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.6°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 29°C, 706 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCanton
- Station IDUSC00391392
- Location43.31°N 96.59°W
- Elevation1,316 ft (401 m)
- Population2,974
On October 22, the normal high in Canton is 57°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Canton.
- Jan 25° 6°
- Feb 31° 11°
- Mar 44° 22°
- Apr 58° 34°
- May 70° 47°
- Jun 80° 58°
- Jul 83° 62°
- Aug 80° 59°
- Sep 74° 50°
- Oct 60° 36°
- Nov 44° 23°
- Dec 29° 11°
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 Canton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.66 in), the least in January (0.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 6°F | 15.5°F | 0.56 | 7.0 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 11°F | 20.5°F | 0.75 | 8.5 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 22°F | 32.8°F | 1.31 | 4.7 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 34°F | 46.1°F | 2.88 | 2.8 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 47°F | 58.3°F | 4.08 | 0.1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 80°F | 58°F | 69.0°F | 4.66 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 62°F | 72.5°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.6°F | 2.99 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 50°F | 62.0°F | 2.90 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 36°F | 48.2°F | 2.21 | 0.8 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 23°F | 33.3°F | 1.15 | 4.8 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 11°F | 20.3°F | 0.77 | 7.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 35°F | 45.7°F | 27.81 | 36.1 | 92 | 15 | 160 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −15°C | −9.2°C | 14 mm | 18 cm |
| February | −1°C | −12°C | −6.4°C | 19 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.4°C | 33 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 73 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.5°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.9°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 9.0°C | 56 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 6°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 29 mm | 12 cm |
| December | −1°C | −11°C | −6.5°C | 20 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391392; 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 Canton?
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 (8).
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 USC00391392.
When is the last frost in Canton?
In Canton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 19 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 21 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 151 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 171 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Canton in zone 5a in ZIP code 57013, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Canton's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (24 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 USC00391392; 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 Canton?
In a normal year in Canton, 15 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 160 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 92 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 160a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 65high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 92a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 112°F, on August 24, 1936; the lowest is −47°F, on February 2, 1905.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 44.95 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 100.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00391392; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00391392. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Canton?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Canton, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and May the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.0 |
| February | 79% | 3.1 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 77% | 6.4 |
| July | 85% | 6.7 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.0 |
| November | 74% | 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 Canton need?
A normal year in Canton brings 7,684 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 679 cooling degree days, 25% 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 2,727 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,533 | 0 |
| February | 1,244 | 0 |
| March | 997 | 1 |
| April | 573 | 5 |
| May | 249 | 40 |
| June | 38 | 158 |
| July | 9 | 243 |
| August | 23 | 165 |
| September | 155 | 63 |
| October | 526 | 6 |
| November | 953 | 0 |
| December | 1,384 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,684 | 679 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00391392. 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 Canton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.5°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.3°F | +2.6°F | 28.54 | 29.8 |
| 2022 | 45.4°F | −0.3°F | 17.30 | 26.3 |
| 2023 | 47.2°F | +1.5°F | 22.32 | 57.5 |
| 2024 | 48.7°F | +3.0°F | 38.65 | 24.8 |
| 2025 | 47.5°F | +1.8°F | 20.98 | 45.7 |
Over 78 complete years from 1903 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00391392; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Canton's climate compare?
Canton is warmer than 48 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 87. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.7°F is warmer than 22%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Canton 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 Canton share this climate record?
9 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.
- Harrisburg, SD10,203 people · 11 mi NW
- Rock Valley, IA4,024 people · 17 mi SE
- Lennox, SD2,539 people · 16 mi W
- Inwood, IA962 people · 8 mi E
- Larchwood, IA954 people · 12 mi NE
- Worthing, SD914 people · 9 mi W
- Doon, IA640 people · 18 mi E
- Lester, IA309 people · 16 mi NE
- Alvord, IA216 people · 14 mi E
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 Canton's climate
What is the coldest month in Canton?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Canton?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Canton?
June, with 4.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Canton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Canton in zone 5a in ZIP code 57013, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Canton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Canton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 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
- Sioux Falls, SD21 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Hawarden, IA22 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Rock Rapids, IA22 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Centerville, SD24 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made