Drake, 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 Drake's primary NOAA station, DRAKE 9 NE.
The climate verdict for Drake
Winter sets the terms in Drake, North Dakota. A pronounced 61.3°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 40°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.
- 40°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 18.1"
- precipitation, annual total
- 138 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Drake: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00322304 · Drake, ND 40°F mean · 18.1" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 40°F
- RANK-COOL #343
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Upham
- PRCP-DRY 18.1"
- SWING-WIDE 61°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,616 HDD
- STN-1 USC00322304
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Upham, ND (+ 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.
- Drake (this station) 40°F
- Hot Minnewaukan, ND 40°F
- Near Upham, ND 40°F
- Cold Red Lake Indian…, MN 39°F
- Near Mayville, ND 39°F
Drake 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 · Drake
Drake: 17/100 · grade F
Drake publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Drake, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 18.1 in · 16.9 from 35 in | 40/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 138 days/year | 17/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 197 calendar days | 16/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 39.5°F · 28.0° from 67.5°F | 3/100 · F |
Drake · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Drake is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 7.2°F and warmest-month mean 68.5°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
- 68.5°F
- Coldest month
- 7.2°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 Drake sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Drake's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 95%
- Among 6,861 stations, Drake sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 76%
- Drake's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Drake is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Drake compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Drake'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
Drake's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 48 complete annual observations from 1965 to 2024, DRAKE 9 NE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.22°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Drake primary station fitted change +0.22 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°F (-8°C) | -3°F (-19°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 0.4" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 22°F (-6°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 0.5" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 34°F (1°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.7" | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 52°F (11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.1" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.6" | 4.8 | 0.4 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 2.7" | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 2.2" | 0.0 | 4.7 |
| September | 71°F (22°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.7" | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| October | 54°F (12°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.4" | 16.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.7" | 28.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 23°F (-5°C) | 4°F (-16°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 0.6" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around August 2, short of 90°F on every date, while 197 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -3°F near January 16.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 27, then returns to freezing around October 14, covering 197 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 15, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 15 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 79 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 26 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Drake.
Where Drake Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 197 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Drake 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
5.2 days with precipitation
4.7 days with precipitation
4.7 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
Drake runs a summer-peaked wet season
46% of Drake'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 3.6", on a wide 61.3°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 49% 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.
How Drake's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 79 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 18.1" between them, or roughly 0.23 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 27
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 12
50% probability date
Growing Season
138 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,616
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
367
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Drake 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 (40°F here).
- Allenspark, CO 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Argyle, MN 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Grand Marais, MN 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Minocqua, WI 40°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (18.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Big Lake, TX 18.2" · 0.0" off
- Haigler, NE 18.2" · 0.0" off
- Ekalaka, MT 18.1" · 0.0" off
- Russell Springs, KS 18.2" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Drake's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Drake logs 9,616 heating degree days, more than twice its 367 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.3°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 138 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 this dry, high-range record. The gap is 61.3°F, so a single annual figure is especially lossy; the annual average is 40°f. Compare monthly temperature and precipitation together before drawing a seasonal conclusion about Drake.
Drake's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 18.1 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 Drake'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 Drake, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Drake's climate
How much rain does Drake get? ▼
How cold does Drake get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Drake? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Drake's primary station: DRAKE 9 NE (USC00322304). 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 3820300). Match rule for Drake: 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 Drake 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.