Chamberlain, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Chamberlain's normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 20.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 31°C, 517 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationChamberlain Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00094943
- Location43.77°N 99.32°W
- Elevation1,703 ft (519 m)
- Population2,453
On October 22, the normal high in Chamberlain is 58°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Chamberlain.
- Jan 31° 11°
- Feb 35° 14°
- Mar 47° 25°
- Apr 59° 35°
- May 70° 47°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 88° 63°
- Aug 86° 61°
- Sep 77° 51°
- Oct 62° 38°
- Nov 46° 25°
- Dec 34° 15°
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 Chamberlain each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.57 in), the least in January (0.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 11°F | 20.8°F | 0.40 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 14°F | 24.8°F | 0.58 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 25°F | 35.8°F | 1.12 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 35°F | 47.1°F | 2.32 | 10 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 47°F | 58.3°F | 3.19 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.1°F | 3.57 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 88°F | 63°F | 75.3°F | 2.18 | 9 | 14 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 86°F | 61°F | 73.5°F | 2.28 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 51°F | 64.3°F | 2.13 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 38°F | 49.6°F | 1.57 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 25°F | 35.5°F | 0.51 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 34°F | 15°F | 24.3°F | 0.52 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 37°F | 48.2°F | 20.37 | 100 | 34 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.2°C | 10 mm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.0°C | 15 mm |
| March | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 28 mm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.4°C | 59 mm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.6°C | 81 mm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 91 mm |
| July | 31°C | 17°C | 24.1°C | 55 mm |
| August | 30°C | 16°C | 23.1°C | 58 mm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 54 mm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 40 mm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 13 mm |
| December | 1°C | −9°C | −4.3°C | 13 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Chamberlain's own co-op station Chamberlain (5 mi S) does: 43 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094943; 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 Chamberlain?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June 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 USW00094943.
When is the last frost in Chamberlain?
In Chamberlain, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 23 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 11 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 158 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 177 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Chamberlain in zone 5a in ZIP code 57325, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Chamberlain's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (16 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 USW00094943; 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 Chamberlain?
In a normal year in Chamberlain, 34 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 100 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 53high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 100a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094943.
How sunny is Chamberlain?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Chamberlain, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.0 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.7 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 4.6 |
| October | 76% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.1 |
| December | 72% | 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 Chamberlain need?
A normal year in Chamberlain brings 6,983 heating degree days, 30% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 895 cooling degree days, 1% 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 3,032 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,369 | 0 |
| February | 1,127 | 0 |
| March | 906 | 1 |
| April | 539 | 2 |
| May | 238 | 30 |
| June | 40 | 163 |
| July | 5 | 323 |
| August | 9 | 270 |
| September | 119 | 98 |
| October | 485 | 8 |
| November | 885 | 0 |
| December | 1,262 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,983 | 895 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094943. 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 Chamberlain been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.9°F, 0.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 48.2°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.4°F | +1.2°F | – |
| 2023 | 47.9°F | −0.4°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094943. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Chamberlain's climate compare?
Chamberlain is warmer than 89 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 29. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Chamberlain 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 Chamberlain 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.
- Oacoma, SD392 people · 4 mi NW
- Pukwana, SD236 people · 7 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.
What do Chamberlain's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Chamberlain. This page uses Chamberlain Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamberlain (5 mi S) USC00391621 | 2 mi S | 1,704 ft | 46.8°F | 9°F | 87°F | 24.1 | 43 | May 3 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Chamberlain's climate
What is the coldest month in Chamberlain?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Chamberlain?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Chamberlain's NOAA station; Chamberlain's own co-op station Chamberlain (5 mi S) records 43 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Chamberlain?
June, with 3.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Chamberlain in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Chamberlain in zone 5a in ZIP code 57325, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Chamberlain's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Chamberlain?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 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
- Lake Sharpe Project, SD22 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Academy (2 mi NE), SD23 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Gann Valley, SD27 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Kennebec, SD29 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made