Hot Springs, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hot Springs's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 18.6 inches of precipitation and 32 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.2°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 473 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHot Springs
- Station IDUSC00394007
- Location43.44°N 103.47°W
- Elevation3,560 ft (1,085 m)
- Population3,608
On October 23, the normal high in Hot Springs is 61°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hot Springs.
- Jan 40° 14°
- Feb 43° 15°
- Mar 54° 24°
- Apr 62° 31°
- May 70° 41°
- Jun 81° 51°
- Jul 89° 57°
- Aug 87° 55°
- Sep 80° 45°
- Oct 65° 33°
- Nov 51° 23°
- Dec 41° 15°
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 Hot Springs each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.28 in), the least in January (0.41 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 14°F | 27.3°F | 0.41 | 5.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 43°F | 15°F | 29.3°F | 0.57 | 6.3 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 54°F | 24°F | 38.8°F | 1.05 | 5.6 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 31°F | 46.4°F | 2.12 | 4.7 | 8 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 41°F | 55.8°F | 3.28 | 0.4 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 51°F | 65.7°F | 3.05 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 89°F | 57°F | 72.9°F | 2.41 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 87°F | 55°F | 71.3°F | 2.00 | 0.0 | 7 | 14 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 80°F | 45°F | 62.5°F | 1.40 | 0.1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 33°F | 49.0°F | 1.40 | 1.7 | 6 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 23°F | 36.6°F | 0.43 | 2.5 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 41°F | 15°F | 27.6°F | 0.49 | 5.5 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 34°F | 48.6°F | 18.61 | 32.0 | 78 | 41 | 176 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −10°C | −2.6°C | 10 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 6°C | −9°C | −1.5°C | 14 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 12°C | −5°C | 3.8°C | 27 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 16°C | 0°C | 8.0°C | 54 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 21°C | 5°C | 13.2°C | 83 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 27°C | 10°C | 18.7°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 14°C | 22.7°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 13°C | 21.8°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 7°C | 16.9°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 1°C | 9.4°C | 36 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 10°C | −5°C | 2.6°C | 11 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 5°C | −10°C | −2.4°C | 12 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394007; 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 Hot Springs?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00394007.
When is the last frost in Hot Springs?
In Hot Springs, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after May 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 12 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 161 year in 10 after May 31; 9 in 10 after May 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 12; 9 in 10 before October 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 133 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 152 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hot Springs in zone 5a in ZIP code 57747, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hot Springs's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 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 USC00394007; 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 Hot Springs?
In a normal year in Hot Springs, 41 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 176 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 41a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 176a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 112°F, on July 25, 1931; the lowest is −41°F, on January 11, 1909.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1915, with 32.01 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 72.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00394007; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00394007. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hot Springs?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hot Springs, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.1 |
| February | 75% | 3.0 |
| March | 74% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 7.0 |
| July | 86% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 83% | 4.8 |
| October | 77% | 3.3 |
| November | 77% | 2.3 |
| December | 75% | 1.8 |
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 Hot Springs need?
A normal year in Hot Springs brings 6,583 heating degree days, 23% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 644 cooling degree days, 29% 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 2,643 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,170 | 0 |
| February | 998 | 0 |
| March | 811 | 0 |
| April | 559 | 1 |
| May | 300 | 14 |
| June | 74 | 95 |
| July | 9 | 255 |
| August | 17 | 213 |
| September | 138 | 64 |
| October | 498 | 2 |
| November | 852 | 0 |
| December | 1,158 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,583 | 644 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394007. 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 Hot Springs been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 49.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.0°F | +0.4°F | 17.30 | 42.7 |
Over 101 complete years from 1898 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.3°F per century (+0.01°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00394007; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hot Springs's climate compare?
Hot Springs is warmer than 91 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.6°F is warmer than 34%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs share this climate record?
Maverick Junction has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Maverick Junction, SD21 people · 4 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 Hot Springs's climate
What is the coldest month in Hot Springs?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Hot Springs?
Yes: 32 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hot Springs?
May, with 3.28 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.41 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hot Springs in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hot Springs in zone 5a in ZIP code 57747, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hot Springs's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Hot Springs?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 31. Waiting until May 31 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
- Wind Cave, SD8 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Oral, SD11 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Edgemont, SD19 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Oelrichs, SD21 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made