Chamberlain, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Chamberlain's primary NOAA station, CHAMBERLAIN 5 S.
The climate verdict for Chamberlain
Winter sets the terms in Chamberlain, South Dakota. A pronounced 55.2°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 47°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 47°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 24.1"
- annual precipitation · 43" snow
- 157 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Chamberlain: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00391621 · Chamberlain, SD 47°F mean · 24.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,784
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Spencer
- PRCP-DRY 24.1"
- SWING-WIDE 55°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,373 HDD
- STN-1 USC00391621
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Spencer Muni, IA (+ 0 °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.
- Chamberlain (this station) 47°F
- Hot Pocahontas, IA 47°F
- Near Spencer, IA 47°F
- Near Windom, MN 47°F
- Near Oahe Dam, SD 47°F
Climate Living Index · Chamberlain
Chamberlain: 34/100 · grade F
Chamberlain publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Chamberlain, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 24.1 in · 10.9 from 35 in | 62/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 157 days/year | 31/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 172 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.8°F · 20.7° from 67.5°F | 26/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 43.3 inches/year | 25/100 · F |
Chamberlain · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Chamberlain is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 19.0°F and warmest-month mean 74.2°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
- 74.2°F
- Coldest month
- 19.0°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 Chamberlain sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Chamberlain's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 74%
- Among 6,861 stations, Chamberlain sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 33rd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 92%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Chamberlain is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Chamberlain compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Chamberlain'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
Chamberlain's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 40 complete annual observations from 1981 to 2025, CHAMBERLAIN 5 S warmed at a fitted rate of 0.36°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Chamberlain primary station fitted change +0.36 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F (-2°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.5" | 7.3" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 34°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.6" | 8.0" | 27.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.1" | 7.2" | 26.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.6" | 6.8" | 14.1 | 0.2 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 2.0 | 1.1 |
| June | 80°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 4.2 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 2.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 13.0 |
| August | 85°F (30°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.1 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 4.3 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 2.0" | 1.4" | 10.2 | 0.5 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 0.8" | 5.1" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 33°F (0°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 7.5" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 172 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 9°F near January 14.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 13, then returns to freezing around October 25, covering 172 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 2, when 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 23 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 93 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Chamberlain.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.3"
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.8"
9.5 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.4"
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.1"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
6.0 days with precipitation
Chamberlain runs a summer-peaked wet season
42% of Chamberlain'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 4.3", on a wide 55.2°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, August, taking 45% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: December at 0.5".
- 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 Chamberlain's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 93 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 24.1" 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 Chamberlain
Chamberlain averages 43.3 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 23 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: 43.3 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 23 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 18% 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 7
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
157 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,373
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
793
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Chamberlain 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 (47°F here).
- Bigfork, MT 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Cody, WY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dakota City, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dodge, WI 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (24.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Alexandria, MN 24.1" · 0.0" off
- McNary, AZ 24.1" · 0.0" off
- Gothenburg, NE 24.1" · 0.1" off
- Kamiah, ID 24.0" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Chamberlain
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Chamberlain logs 7,373 heating degree days, more than twice its 793 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.2°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Chamberlain's frost-free season lasts about 157 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Chamberlain coldest normal
January
Averaging 19°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Chamberlain typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Chamberlain snow peak
February
Chamberlain averages 43.3 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Chamberlain's climate
How much snow does Chamberlain get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Chamberlain get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Chamberlain? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Chamberlain's primary station: CHAMBERLAIN 5 S (USC00391621). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 4611220). Match rule for Chamberlain: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Chamberlain 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.