Dickinson, ND 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 Dickinson's primary NOAA station, DICKINSON.
The climate verdict for Dickinson
Dryness leads the climate profile for Dickinson, North Dakota, with 17.6 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 42°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 42°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 17.6"
- annual precipitation
- 125 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Dickinson: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00322188 · Dickinson, ND 42°F mean · 17.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #617
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Mora
- PRCP-DRY 17.6"
- SWING-WIDE 55°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,755 HDD
- STN-1 USC00322188
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Mora, MN (+ 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 ND station list.
- Dickinson (this station) 42°F
- Cold Deep Portage, MN 42°F
- Hot Dickinson Rch H…, ND 42°F
- Near Mora, MN 42°F
- Near Riverdale, ND 42°F
Dickinson sits in North Dakota, the #2 coldest U.S. state at 41.0°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Dickinson
Dickinson: 16/100 · grade F
Dickinson publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Dickinson, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 17.6 in · 17.4 from 35 in | 38/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 202 calendar days | 13/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.0°F · 25.5° from 67.5°F | 9/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 125 days/year | 9/100 · F |
Dickinson · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Dickinson is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 14.6°F and warmest-month mean 69.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 69.1°F
- Coldest month
- 14.6°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 Dickinson sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Dickinson's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 91%
- Among 6,861 stations, Dickinson sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 77%
- Dickinson's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 91%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Dickinson is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Dickinson compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Dickinson's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 0.4" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 31°F (-1°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.5" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 41°F (5°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.7" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 54°F (12°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.6" | 20.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.6" | 7.4 | 0.3 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.2" | 0.3 | 1.2 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 2.7" | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.9" | 0.1 | 8.3 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.7" | 4.2 | 2.6 |
| October | 57°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.3" | 20.7 | 0.2 |
| November | 42°F (5°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.6" | 28.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 30°F (-1°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.4" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 202 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 2°F near January 9.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 27, then returns to freezing around October 9, covering 202 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 10, when 42% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 27 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 92 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Dickinson.
Where Dickinson Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 202 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Dickinson earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
6.5 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
Dickinson runs a summer-peaked wet season
44% of Dickinson'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 3.2", on a wide 54.5°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, July, May, taking 48% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.4".
- Winter share: 8% 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.
Dickinson is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 91 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 25% of the calendar, and they carry 17.6" between them. At roughly 0.19 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is June at about 12 wet days; the driest is November at about 5.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 22
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 20
50% probability date
Growing Season
125 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,755
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
406
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Dickinson 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 (42°F here).
- Boonville, NY 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Evanston, WY 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Melrose, MN 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Mora, MN 42°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (17.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Big Springs, NE 17.6" · 0.0" off
- Lodgepole, NE 17.6" · 0.0" off
- New Harmony, UT 17.6" · 0.0" off
- Lakewood, CO 17.5" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Dickinson's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Dickinson's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,755 annual heating degree days against 406 for cooling. Its 54.5°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 125 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Dickinson's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 54.5°F. The annual average is 42°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Dickinson's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 17.6 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Dickinson's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Dickinson, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Dickinson's climate
How much rain does Dickinson get? ▼
How cold does Dickinson get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Dickinson? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Dickinson's primary station: DICKINSON (USC00322188). 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 3819620). Match rule for Dickinson: 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 Dickinson 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.