Forman, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Forman's normal year runs from −1°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 23.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.3°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 27°C, 589 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationForman (5 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSC00323117
- Location46.03°N 97.59°W
- Elevation1,250 ft (381 m)
- Population490
On October 22, the normal high in Forman is 52°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Forman.
- Jan 18° -1°
- Feb 23° 3°
- Mar 37° 17°
- Apr 53° 31°
- May 66° 44°
- Jun 76° 55°
- Jul 81° 59°
- Aug 80° 57°
- Sep 71° 47°
- Oct 56° 34°
- Nov 38° 20°
- Dec 25° 7°
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 Forman each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −1°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.31 in), the least in February (0.52 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | −1°F | 8.9°F | 0.67 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 23°F | 3°F | 13.3°F | 0.52 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 37°F | 17°F | 26.5°F | 0.96 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 31°F | 41.8°F | 1.85 | 6 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 44°F | 55.2°F | 2.83 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 55°F | 65.4°F | 4.31 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 59°F | 70.2°F | 3.60 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 57°F | 68.1°F | 2.21 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 47°F | 59.1°F | 2.53 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 34°F | 44.6°F | 2.23 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 20°F | 29.0°F | 0.82 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 25°F | 7°F | 15.8°F | 0.64 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 23.17 | 84 | 9 | 179 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −18°C | −12.8°C | 17 mm |
| February | −5°C | −16°C | −10.4°C | 13 mm |
| March | 3°C | −9°C | −3.1°C | 24 mm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 47 mm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 72 mm |
| June | 24°C | 13°C | 18.6°C | 109 mm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 91 mm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 56 mm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 15.1°C | 64 mm |
| October | 13°C | 1°C | 7.0°C | 57 mm |
| November | 4°C | −7°C | −1.7°C | 21 mm |
| December | −4°C | −14°C | −9.0°C | 16 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Britton (18 miles away), gets 45 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00323117; 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 Forman?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00323117.
When is the last frost in Forman?
In Forman, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 7 in half of years and after May 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 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 71 year in 10 after May 20; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 146 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 164 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 29 in half of springs and before October 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Forman in zone 4a in ZIP code 58032, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Forman's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (24 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 USC00323117; 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 Forman?
In a normal year in Forman, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 179 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 179a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 90high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on July 28, 1917; the lowest is −53°F, on February 1, 1893.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1916, with 35.51 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 85.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00323117; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00323117. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Forman?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Forman, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| 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 Forman need?
A normal year in Forman brings 8,993 heating degree days, 67% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 466 cooling degree days, 49% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,264 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,741 | 0 |
| February | 1,448 | 0 |
| March | 1,194 | 0 |
| April | 696 | 0 |
| May | 325 | 20 |
| June | 78 | 91 |
| July | 19 | 179 |
| August | 38 | 134 |
| September | 217 | 40 |
| October | 635 | 3 |
| November | 1,080 | 0 |
| December | 1,524 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,993 | 466 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00323117. 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 Forman been warmer than normal lately?
Over 65 complete years from 1908 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Forman's climate compare?
Forman is warmer than 51 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 68. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.5°F is warmer than 8%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Forman 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 Forman share this climate record?
6 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.
- Gwinner, ND893 people · 14 mi N
- Rutland, ND156 people · 4 mi E
- Cogswell, ND69 people · 10 mi NW
- Cayuga, ND39 people · 11 mi E
- Kidder, SD10 people · 12 mi SW
- Westwood Colony, SD0 people · 13 mi SW
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 Forman's climate
What is the coldest month in Forman?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of −1°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Forman?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Forman's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Britton (18 miles away), records 45 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Forman?
June, with 4.31 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.52 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Forman in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Forman in zone 4a in ZIP code 58032, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Forman's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Forman?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 7; in one year in ten it comes after May 20. Waiting until May 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Britton, SD19 miles from this station, 42.3°F a year
- Lidgerwood, ND22 miles from this station, 42.9°F a year
- Roy Lake, SD24 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Oakes, ND25 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made