Cedar Butte, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Cedar Butte's primary NOAA station, CEDAR BUTTE.
The climate verdict for Cedar Butte
Cedar Butte, South Dakota has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 49°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 49°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 20.4"
- annual precipitation · 40" snow
- 151 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Cedar Butte: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00391539 · Cedar Butte, SD 49°F mean · 20.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 49°F
- RANK-COOL #2,401
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ W Point
- PRCP-DRY 20.4"
- SWING-WIDE 52°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,763 HDD
- STN-1 USC00391539
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: W Point, NE ( -0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every SD station list.
- Cedar Butte (this station) 49°F
- Cold W Point, NE 49°F
- Near Vermillion, SD 49°F
- Near Ouray, UT 49°F
- Near Winona, MN 49°F
Climate Living Index · Cedar Butte
Cedar Butte: 31/100 · grade F
Cedar Butte publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Cedar Butte, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 20.4 in · 14.6 from 35 in | 49/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.9°F · 18.6° from 67.5°F | 36/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 40.0 inches/year | 28/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 151 days/year | 26/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 190 calendar days | 19/100 · F |
Cedar Butte · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Cedar Butte is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 23.7°F and warmest-month mean 75.6°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 75.6°F
- Coldest month
- 23.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Cedar Butte sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Cedar Butte's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 35th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 72%
- Cedar Butte's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 86%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Cedar Butte is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Cedar Butte compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Cedar Butte's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 6.6" | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 39°F (4°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 8.0" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 50°F (10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.9" | 6.0" | 23.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 2.4" | 5.6" | 13.6 | 0.2 |
| May | 70°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 3.4" | 0.4" | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 15.5 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 15.0 |
| September | 80°F (26°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 6.4 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 1.8" | 1.6" | 8.8 | 1.0 |
| November | 49°F (9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.6" | 5.1" | 23.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.4" | 6.7" | 29.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Cedar Butte works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by July 22 and hold at or above 90°F on 22 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 168 dates, bottoming at 12°F around January 18.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 15 through August 5, covering 22 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 16 to October 4.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 11, then returns to freezing around October 27, covering 168 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 1, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 17 at 13%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 79 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 8 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Cedar Butte.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 6.6"
4.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
4.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.6"
8.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
9.7 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.6"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.1"
4.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
4.0 days with precipitation
Cedar Butte runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Cedar Butte's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 3.5", on a wide 51.9°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, July, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: December at 0.4".
- Winter share: 7% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Cedar Butte's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 79 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 20.4" between them, or roughly 0.26 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Cedar Butte
Cedar Butte averages 40.0 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 21 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 40.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 21 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 20% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
151 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,763
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
916
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Cedar Butte on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (49°F here).
- Basin, WY 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Castle Dale, UT 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Colville, WA 49°F · 0.0°F off
- El Rito, NM 49°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (20.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Pullman, WA 20.4" · 0.0" off
- Monterey, CA 20.4" · 0.0" off
- Sterling City, TX 20.4" · 0.0" off
- Zapata, TX 20.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Cedar Butte
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Cedar Butte's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,763 annual heating degree days against 916 for cooling. Its 51.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Cedar Butte's frost-free season lasts about 151 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Cedar Butte coldest normal
January
Averaging 24°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Cedar Butte typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Cedar Butte snow peak
February
Cedar Butte averages 40.0 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Cedar Butte's climate
How much snow does Cedar Butte get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Cedar Butte get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Cedar Butte? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Cedar Butte's primary station: CEDAR BUTTE (USC00391539). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Cedar Butte; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Cedar Butte comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.