Lead, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Lead's primary NOAA station, LEAD.
The climate verdict for Lead
Lead, South Dakota has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 46°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 46°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 31.8"
- annual precipitation · 184" snow
- 134 days
- frost-free growing season
Lead: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00394834 · Lead, SD 46°F mean · 31.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,647
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ithaca Cornell…
- PRCP-MID 31.8"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,206 HDD
- STN-1 USC00394834
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ithaca Cornell Univ, NY (+ 0 °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 SD station list.
- Lead (this station) 46°F
- Hot E Jordan, MI 46°F
- Near Ithaca Cornell…, NY 46°F
- Near Hopkinton Lake, NH 46°F
- Near Hart, MI 46°F
Climate Living Index · Lead
Lead: 32/100 · grade F
Lead publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lead, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 31.8 in · 3.2 from 35 in | 88/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 179 calendar days | 26/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.3°F · 21.2° from 67.5°F | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 134 days/year | 15/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 183.9 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Lead · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lead is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 28.0°F and warmest-month mean 69.2°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
- 69.2°F
- Coldest month
- 28.0°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 Lead sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lead's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 76%
- Among 6,861 stations, Lead sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 42nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 41st percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lead compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lead's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% 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
Lead's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 106 complete annual observations from 1911 to 2025, LEAD warmed at a fitted rate of 0.11°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Lead primary station fitted change +0.11 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.5" | 24.8" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 39°F (4°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.8" | 26.2" | 25.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 47°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.2" | 27.6" | 24.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 54°F (12°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 3.5" | 29.0" | 17.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 63°F (17°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 4.9" | 6.7" | 6.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 74°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.8" | 0.9" | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 2.0" | 1.8" | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| October | 57°F (14°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 3.3" | 19.3" | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.7" | 22.3" | 22.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.5" | 25.3" | 28.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 23, short of 90°F on every date, while 179 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 17°F near February 4.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 20, then returns to freezing around October 25, covering 179 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 May 31, when 48% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 3 at 27%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 133 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 27 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lead.
Where Lead Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 179 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Lead 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 and snowfall
Snow: 24.8"
10.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 26.2"
11.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 27.6"
11.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 29.0"
12.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
14.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
13.3 days with precipitation
12.0 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.8"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 19.3"
10.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 22.3"
9.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 25.3"
10.0 days with precipitation
Lead spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 15%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lead has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 41.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 4.9" and December 1.5". The three wettest months together take 39% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Lead's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 133 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 31.8" between them, or roughly 0.24 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.
Winter brings real snow to Lead
Lead averages 183.9 inches of snowfall a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 62 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 183.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 62 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 58% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 29
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 18
50% probability date
Growing Season
134 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,206
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
425
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Lead 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 (46°F here).
- Binghamton, NY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Chewelah, WA 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Delanson, NY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Douglas, WY 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (31.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Watonga, OK 31.8" · 0.0" off
- Mineral Wells, TX 31.8" · 0.0" off
- Anadarko, OK 31.8" · 0.0" off
- Buffalo, MN 31.7" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Lead
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Lead's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,206 annual heating degree days against 425 for cooling. Its 41.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 134 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Lead coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 28°F (-2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Lead typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Lead snow peak
April
Lead averages 183.9 inches of snow a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Lead's climate
How much snow does Lead get? ▼
How cold does Lead get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lead? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lead's primary station: LEAD (USC00394834). 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 4636220). Match rule for Lead: 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 Lead 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.