Hillsboro, ND Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Hillsboro's primary NOAA station, HILLSBORO 3 N.
The climate verdict for Hillsboro
Winter sets the terms in Hillsboro, North Dakota. A pronounced 61.8°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 43°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.
- 43°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 22.3"
- precipitation, annual total
- 160 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Hillsboro: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00324203 · Hillsboro, ND 43°F mean · 22.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #755
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Alexandria
- PRCP-DRY 22.3"
- SWING-WIDE 62°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,681 HDD
- STN-1 USC00324203
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Alexandria, MN ( -0.1 °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.
- Hillsboro (this station) 43°F
- Hot Columbia, SD 43°F
- Near Alexandria, MN 43°F
- Cold Washburn, ND 42°F
- Near Mandan, ND 42°F
Hillsboro 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 · Hillsboro
Hillsboro: 30/100 · grade F
Hillsboro publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Hillsboro, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 22.3 in · 12.7 from 35 in | 55/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 167 calendar days | 34/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 160 days/year | 33/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.6°F · 24.9° from 67.5°F | 11/100 · F |
Hillsboro · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Hillsboro is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 9.4°F and warmest-month mean 71.2°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
- 71.2°F
- Coldest month
- 9.4°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 Hillsboro sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Hillsboro's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 89%
- Among 6,861 stations, Hillsboro sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 31st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Hillsboro is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Hillsboro compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Hillsboro'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 | 18°F (-8°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 0.6" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 23°F (-5°C) | 4°F (-15°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 0.6" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 36°F (2°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.2" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.4" | 15.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.8" | 2.4 | 0.5 |
| June | 77°F (25°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.4" | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| September | 71°F (22°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 2.2" | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| October | 55°F (13°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 2.2" | 11.9 | 0.1 |
| November | 38°F (3°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.9" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 24°F (-5°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 0.9" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 21, short of 90°F on every date, while 167 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 0°F near January 25.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 10, then returns to freezing around October 27, covering 167 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.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 14, when 35% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 16 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 86 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 11 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Hillsboro.
Where Hillsboro Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Hillsboro 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
6.5 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
5.4 days with precipitation
5.5 days with precipitation
10.2 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
Hillsboro runs a summer-peaked wet season
43% of Hillsboro'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 3.6", on a wide 61.8°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 44% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.6".
- 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.
How Hillsboro's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 85 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 22.3" between them, or roughly 0.26 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 9
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 2
50% probability date
Growing Season
160 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,681
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
573
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Hillsboro 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 (43°F here).
- Alamosa, CO 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Baldwin, WI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Boulder, MT 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Gorham, NH 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (22.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hallock, MN 22.3" · 0.0" off
- Libby, MT 22.3" · 0.0" off
- Miller, SD 22.3" · 0.0" off
- Memphis, TX 22.3" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Hillsboro's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Hillsboro logs 8,681 heating degree days, more than twice its 573 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.8°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Hillsboro's frost-free season lasts about 160 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Hillsboro's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 61.8°F between them. The annual average is 43°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Hillsboro's 22.3 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 Hillsboro'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 Hillsboro, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Hillsboro's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Hillsboro's primary station: HILLSBORO 3 N (USC00324203). 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 3838100). Match rule for Hillsboro: 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 Hillsboro 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.