Fargo, ND Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Fargo's primary NOAA station, FARGO 3S.
The climate verdict for Fargo
Winter sets the terms in Fargo, North Dakota. A pronounced 63°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 41°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 41°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 24.4"
- annual precipitation
- 151 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Fargo: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00322860 · Fargo, ND 41°F mean · 24.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 41°F
- RANK-COOL #549
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lisbon
- PRCP-DRY 24.4"
- SWING-WIDE 63°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,012 HDD
- STN-1 USC00322860
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Lisbon, 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.
- Hot Forman, ND 42°F
- Fargo (this station) 41°F
- Cold Jamestown, ND 41°F
- Near Lisbon, ND 41°F
- Near Gull Lake Dam, MN 41°F
Fargo 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 · Fargo
Fargo: 26/100 · grade F
Fargo publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Fargo, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 24.4 in · 10.6 from 35 in | 63/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 151 days/year | 26/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 184 calendar days | 23/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 41.4°F · 26.1° from 67.5°F | 8/100 · F |
Fargo · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Fargo is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 7.6°F and warmest-month mean 70.6°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
- 70.6°F
- Coldest month
- 7.6°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 Fargo sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Fargo's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 92%
- Among 6,861 stations, Fargo 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 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Fargo is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Fargo compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Fargo's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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
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) | -2°F (-19°C) | 8°F (-14°C) | 0.7" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 22°F (-6°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 0.7" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 35°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 1.1" | 30.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 1.6" | 19.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.1" | 2.0 | 0.8 |
| June | 77°F (25°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 4.3" | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 3.7" | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 2.7" | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 2.5" | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.2" | 15.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 38°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.9" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 24°F (-5°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 0.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 184 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -3°F near January 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 20, then returns to freezing around October 20, covering 184 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.
The widest day
May 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Fargo.
Where Fargo Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 184 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Fargo 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
Fargo runs a summer-peaked wet season
44% of Fargo'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 63°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 46% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.7".
- Winter share: 9% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 2
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 4
50% probability date
Growing Season
151 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,012
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
453
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Fargo 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 (41°F here).
- Angel Fire, NM 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Antigo, WI 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Couderay, WI 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Moose Lake, MN 41°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (24.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Clark, SD 24.4" · 0.0" off
- Troy, MT 24.4" · 0.0" off
- Richmond, CA 24.4" · 0.0" off
- Pickstown, SD 24.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Fargo's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Fargo logs 9,012 heating degree days, more than twice its 453 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 63.0°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Fargo's frost-free season lasts about 151 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Fargo's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 63.0°F between them. The annual average is 41°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Fargo's 24.4 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Fargo'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 Fargo, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Fargo's climate
How much rain does Fargo get? ▼
How cold does Fargo get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Fargo? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Fargo's primary station: FARGO 3S (USC00322860). 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 3825700). Match rule for Fargo: 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 Fargo 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.