Great Salt Plains Dam, Oklahoma climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Great Salt Plains Dam's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 33.5 inches of precipitation and 10 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.1°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 35°C, 851 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGreat Salt Plains Dam
- Station IDUSC00343740
- Location36.74°N 98.13°W
- Elevation1,200 ft (366 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Great Salt Plains Dam is 70°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Great Salt Plains Dam.
- Jan 47° 23°
- Feb 52° 27°
- Mar 61° 36°
- Apr 71° 45°
- May 80° 57°
- Jun 90° 66°
- Jul 95° 71°
- Aug 94° 69°
- Sep 86° 60°
- Oct 73° 47°
- Nov 60° 35°
- Dec 48° 26°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Great Salt Plains Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.78 in), the least in January (0.95 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 23°F | 35.2°F | 0.95 | 2.0 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 27°F | 39.4°F | 1.20 | 2.8 | 4 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 2.16 | 1.7 | 6 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 45°F | 58.0°F | 3.09 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 80°F | 57°F | 68.4°F | 4.78 | 0.0 | 9 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 90°F | 66°F | 78.4°F | 4.71 | 0.0 | 8 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 95°F | 71°F | 83.1°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 6 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 94°F | 69°F | 81.3°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 86°F | 60°F | 73.0°F | 2.76 | 0.0 | 5 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 47°F | 60.3°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 35°F | 47.7°F | 1.58 | 0.1 | 4 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 26°F | 37.0°F | 1.43 | 3.6 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 47°F | 59.2°F | 33.49 | 10.2 | 68 | 81 | 95 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −5°C | 1.8°C | 24 mm | 5 cm |
| February | 11°C | −3°C | 4.1°C | 30 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 55 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 21°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 19°C | 25.8°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 22°C | 28.4°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 21°C | 27.4°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 36 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00343740; 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.
Which months are mildest at Great Salt Plains Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, October 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 USC00343740.
When is the last frost at Great Salt Plains Dam?
In Great Salt Plains Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 5 in half of years and after April 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 1 in half of years and before October 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
- April 51 year in 10 after April 20; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 11 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 209 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 229 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 25 in half of springs and before November 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Great Salt Plains Dam in zone 7a in ZIP code 73749, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Oklahoma · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00343740; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 at Great Salt Plains Dam?
In a normal year in Great Salt Plains Dam, 81 days a year reach 90°F (22 of them 100°F or more), 95 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 68 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 81a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 22a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 95a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 12high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 68a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1946) is 114°F, on June 15, 1953; the lowest is −19°F, on February 10, 2011.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1987, with 44.78 in; the snowiest season is 2002–03, with 30.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00343740; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00343740. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Great Salt Plains Dam?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Great Salt Plains Dam, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.8 |
| February | 75% | 3.5 |
| March | 77% | 4.6 |
| April | 78% | 5.7 |
| May | 79% | 6.3 |
| June | 86% | 7.1 |
| July | 88% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.2 |
| September | 85% | 5.2 |
| October | 81% | 4.0 |
| November | 81% | 3.0 |
| December | 76% | 2.4 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Great Salt Plains Dam record?
A normal year at Great Salt Plains Dam brings 4,063 heating degree days, 24% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,985 cooling degree days, 2.2 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,951 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 924 | 0 |
| February | 715 | 0 |
| March | 510 | 4 |
| April | 243 | 32 |
| May | 54 | 161 |
| June | 3 | 405 |
| July | 0 | 561 |
| August | 0 | 505 |
| September | 24 | 264 |
| October | 198 | 50 |
| November | 523 | 3 |
| December | 868 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,063 | 1,985 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00343740. 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.
How does Great Salt Plains Dam's climate compare?
Great Salt Plains Dam is warmer than 34 of the 134 places with their own NOAA record in Oklahoma, and wetter than 39. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.2°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Great Salt Plains Dam is Cfa: temperate, 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 Great Salt Plains Dam share this climate record?
4 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.
- Jet, OK197 people · 6 mi SW
- Nash, OK187 people · 7 mi SE
- Nescatunga, OK101 people · 1 mi NW
- Waldron, KS9 people · 18 mi N
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 Great Salt Plains Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Great Salt Plains Dam?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow at Great Salt Plains Dam?
Yes: 10 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (3.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Great Salt Plains Dam?
May, with 4.78 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.95 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Great Salt Plains Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Great Salt Plains Dam in zone 7a in ZIP code 73749, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at Great Salt Plains Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 5; in one year in ten it comes after April 20. Waiting until April 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oklahoma climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cherokee, OK12 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Helena, OK16 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Jefferson, OK22 miles from this station, 57.5°F a year
- Medford, OK22 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made