Forestburg, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Forestburg's normal year runs from 5°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 24.6 inches of precipitation and 26 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.5°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 30°C, 625 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationForestburg (4 mi NNE)
- Station IDUSC00393029
- Location44.07°N 98.08°W
- Elevation1,277 ft (389 m)
- Population (census place)40
On October 23, the normal high in Forestburg is 57°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Forestburg.
- Jan 26° 5°
- Feb 32° 9°
- Mar 45° 21°
- Apr 60° 32°
- May 71° 44°
- Jun 81° 55°
- Jul 86° 60°
- Aug 83° 57°
- Sep 77° 48°
- Oct 61° 34°
- Nov 44° 21°
- Dec 31° 10°
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 Forestburg each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 5°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.71 in), the least in January (0.54 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 5°F | 15.5°F | 0.54 | 6.0 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 32°F | 9°F | 20.3°F | 0.79 | 5.6 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 21°F | 32.6°F | 1.05 | 2.8 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 32°F | 45.7°F | 2.92 | 3.0 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 71°F | 44°F | 57.5°F | 3.58 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 55°F | 67.8°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 86°F | 60°F | 72.7°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 83°F | 57°F | 70.2°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 48°F | 62.4°F | 2.26 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 61°F | 34°F | 47.8°F | 2.08 | 0.4 | 6 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 21°F | 32.6°F | 0.88 | 3.7 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 31°F | 10°F | 20.4°F | 0.64 | 4.8 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 33°F | 45.5°F | 24.60 | 26.3 | 69 | 26 | 168 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −15°C | −9.2°C | 14 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 0°C | −13°C | −6.5°C | 20 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 27 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 15°C | 0°C | 7.6°C | 74 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 13°C | 19.9°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 15°C | 22.6°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.2°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 9°C | 16.9°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 1°C | 8.8°C | 53 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 22 mm | 9 cm |
| December | −1°C | −12°C | −6.4°C | 16 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00393029; 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 Forestburg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00393029.
When is the last frost in Forestburg?
In Forestburg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 28 in half of years and before September 14 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 91 year in 10 after May 24; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 281 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 140 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 158 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Forestburg in zone 4b in ZIP code 57314, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Forestburg's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00393029; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get in Forestburg?
In a normal year in Forestburg, 26 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 168 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 69 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 168a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 60high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 69a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 116°F, on August 4, 1934; the lowest is −46°F, on February 9, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1914, with 36.41 in; the snowiest season is 1909–10, with 64.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00393029; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00393029. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Forestburg?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Forestburg, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.0 |
| February | 80% | 3.0 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.0 |
| November | 74% | 2.0 |
| December | 70% | 1.5 |
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 Forestburg need?
A normal year in Forestburg brings 7,755 heating degree days, 44% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 671 cooling degree days, 26% 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 2,689 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,534 | 0 |
| February | 1,253 | 0 |
| March | 1,003 | 0 |
| April | 581 | 2 |
| May | 260 | 28 |
| June | 48 | 132 |
| July | 10 | 250 |
| August | 24 | 185 |
| September | 150 | 71 |
| October | 538 | 5 |
| November | 974 | 0 |
| December | 1,381 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,755 | 671 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00393029. 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 Forestburg been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.8°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.5°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.6°F | +3.1°F | 15.44 | 18.2 |
| 2022 | 45.2°F | −0.3°F | 16.05 | 27.4 |
| 2023 | 47.2°F | +1.7°F | 21.67 | 46.3 |
| 2024 | 48.2°F | +2.7°F | 22.38 | 19.1 |
| 2025 | 47.8°F | +2.3°F | 21.60 | 24.5 |
Over 114 complete years from 1893 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00393029; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Forestburg's climate compare?
Forestburg is warmer than 45 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 64. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.5°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Forestburg is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Forestburg share this climate record?
2 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.
- Woonsocket, SD646 people · 9 mi W
- Artesian, SD135 people · 9 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.
Questions about Forestburg's climate
What is the coldest month in Forestburg?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 5°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Forestburg?
Yes: 26 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Forestburg?
June, with 3.71 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.54 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Forestburg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Forestburg in zone 4b in ZIP code 57314, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Forestburg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Forestburg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; in one year in ten it comes after May 24. Waiting until May 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Mitchell, SD21 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Huron, SD24 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Wessington Springs, SD24 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Howard, SD28 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made