Fargo, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fargo's normal year runs from 0°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 23.9 inches of precipitation and 51 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.7°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 28°C, 608 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFargo Hector International Airport
- Station IDUSW00014914
- Location46.93°N 96.81°W
- Elevation900 ft (274 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population136,285
On October 23, the normal high in Fargo is 52°F and the normal low 32°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 Fargo.
- Jan 18° 0°
- Feb 23° 4°
- Mar 36° 18°
- Apr 54° 32°
- May 69° 44°
- Jun 78° 56°
- Jul 82° 59°
- Aug 81° 57°
- Sep 72° 48°
- Oct 56° 35°
- Nov 38° 21°
- Dec 24° 8°
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 Fargo each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 0°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.29 in), the least in February (0.69 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | 0°F | 9.2°F | 0.71 | 10.3 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 23°F | 4°F | 13.4°F | 0.69 | 8.1 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 36°F | 18°F | 27.2°F | 1.25 | 9.2 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 32°F | 43.0°F | 1.54 | 4.1 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 69°F | 44°F | 56.6°F | 3.09 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 15 h |
| June | 78°F | 56°F | 66.8°F | 4.29 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 59°F | 70.7°F | 3.07 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 57°F | 68.8°F | 2.60 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 48°F | 60.0°F | 2.68 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 35°F | 45.5°F | 2.17 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 21°F | 29.5°F | 0.97 | 6.8 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 24°F | 8°F | 15.7°F | 0.89 | 11.7 | 10 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 32°F | 42.2°F | 23.95 | 51.4 | 109 | 11 | 172 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −18°C | −12.7°C | 18 mm | 26 cm |
| February | −5°C | −15°C | −10.3°C | 18 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 2°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 32 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 39 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.7°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.5°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 68 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 2°C | 7.5°C | 55 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 3°C | −6°C | −1.4°C | 25 mm | 17 cm |
| December | −4°C | −14°C | −9.1°C | 23 mm | 30 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014914; 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 Fargo?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00014914.
When is the last frost in Fargo?
In Fargo, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 in half of years and before September 18 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 101 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 143 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 161 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fargo in zone 4a across its 4 ZIP code areas (4a in 58102, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fargo's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00014914; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Fargo ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Fargo's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 4a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Fargo?
In a normal year in Fargo, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 172 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 109 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 172a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 93high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 109a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in Fargo's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1881) is 114°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −47°F, on February 9, 1888.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2000, with 34.76 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 117.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00014914; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record FARthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Fargo, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 58°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 59°F; the driest air comes in December (6°F). March is the windiest month (12.4 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (73%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°F | 78% | 72% | 11.2 mph | 51% | 40% |
| February | 12°F | 76% | 69% | 11.5 mph | 50% | 39% |
| March | 26°F | 68% | 53% | 12.4 mph | 55% | 33% |
| April | 34°F | 55% | 38% | 12.0 mph | 59% | 29% |
| May | 48°F | 59% | 42% | 10.8 mph | 57% | 25% |
| June | 58°F | 67% | 50% | 10.0 mph | 67% | 17% |
| July | 59°F | 68% | 48% | 8.8 mph | 73% | 10% |
| August | 56°F | 68% | 48% | 10.0 mph | 73% | 15% |
| September | 41°F | 64% | 44% | 11.0 mph | 65% | 23% |
| October | 29°F | 71% | 56% | 11.5 mph | 52% | 39% |
| November | 16°F | 77% | 68% | 11.2 mph | 49% | 43% |
| December | 6°F | 78% | 73% | 10.9 mph | 48% | 43% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00014914. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Fargo?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fargo, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (66%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 276th (with 27 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 1.8 |
| February | 83% | 3.0 |
| March | 75% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 82% | 6.5 |
| August | 81% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.1 |
| October | 69% | 2.6 |
| November | 67% | 1.6 |
| December | 66% | 1.2 |
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 Fargo need?
A normal year in Fargo brings 8,806 heating degree days, 64% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 542 cooling degree days, 40% 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 2,416 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,730 | 0 |
| February | 1,445 | 0 |
| March | 1,172 | 0 |
| April | 661 | 1 |
| May | 291 | 29 |
| June | 60 | 116 |
| July | 17 | 195 |
| August | 32 | 149 |
| September | 198 | 49 |
| October | 609 | 4 |
| November | 1,065 | 0 |
| December | 1,527 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,806 | 542 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00014914. 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 Fargo been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 43.5°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 42.2°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.2°F | +3.0°F | 19.21 | 40.9 |
| 2022 | 39.7°F | −2.5°F | 21.41 | 55.9 |
| 2023 | 44.8°F | +2.6°F | 22.37 | 44.9 |
| 2024 | 47.6°F | +5.4°F | 21.17 | 22.3 |
| 2025 | 43.5°F | +1.3°F | 20.89 | 30.6 |
Over 143 complete years from 1881 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.7°F per century (+0.31°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00014914; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fargo's climate compare?
Fargo is warmer than 63 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 71. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.2°F is warmer than 10%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fargo is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Fargo share this climate record?
10 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.
- Dilworth, MN4,811 people · 6 mi SE
- Hawley, MN2,274 people · 23 mi E
- Glyndon, MN1,369 people · 12 mi E
- Sabin, MN601 people · 12 mi SE
- Ulen, MN472 people · 28 mi E
- Hitterdal, MN202 people · 26 mi E
- Felton, MN169 people · 18 mi NE
- Wolverton, MN122 people · 25 mi S
- Comstock, MN99 people · 19 mi S
- Baker, MN50 people · 19 mi SE
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 Fargo's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Fargo. This page uses Fargo Hector International Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fargo (3 mi S) USC00322860 | 3 mi SE | 908 ft | 41.4°F | −2°F | 82°F | 24.4 | – | May 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Fargo's climate
What is the coldest month in Fargo?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of 0°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Fargo?
Yes: 51 inches in a normal year, falling on 42 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Fargo?
June, with 4.29 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.69 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fargo in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fargo in zone 4a across its 4 ZIP code areas (4a in 58102, the largest). By the same method at Fargo's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Fargo?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Fargo in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Moorhead, MN4 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Georgetown, MN11 miles from this station, 42.1°F a year
- Casselton, ND20 miles from this station, 41.1°F a year
- Ada, MN29 miles from this station, 40.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made