Lead, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lead's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 31.8 inches of precipitation and 184 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.9°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 28°C, 807 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLead
- Station IDUSC00394834
- Location44.35°N 103.74°W
- Elevation5,112 ft (1,558 m)
- Population3,038
On October 22, the normal high in Lead is 55°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 33%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lead.
- Jan 38° 18°
- Feb 39° 18°
- Mar 47° 25°
- Apr 54° 31°
- May 63° 41°
- Jun 74° 50°
- Jul 82° 57°
- Aug 81° 55°
- Sep 72° 47°
- Oct 57° 35°
- Nov 46° 25°
- Dec 38° 19°
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 Lead each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.90 in), the least in December (1.51 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 18°F | 28.0°F | 1.54 | 24.8 | 11 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 39°F | 18°F | 28.2°F | 1.83 | 26.2 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 47°F | 25°F | 35.9°F | 2.24 | 27.6 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 31°F | 42.5°F | 3.54 | 29.0 | 13 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 63°F | 41°F | 51.9°F | 4.90 | 6.7 | 14 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 74°F | 50°F | 62.1°F | 3.81 | 0.9 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 57°F | 69.2°F | 3.12 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 81°F | 55°F | 68.0°F | 2.32 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 72°F | 47°F | 59.6°F | 1.96 | 1.8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 3.32 | 19.3 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 25°F | 35.7°F | 1.70 | 22.3 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 38°F | 19°F | 28.3°F | 1.51 | 25.3 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 35°F | 46.3°F | 31.79 | 183.9 | 133 | 6 | 167 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 39 mm | 63 cm |
| February | 4°C | −8°C | −2.1°C | 46 mm | 67 cm |
| March | 8°C | −4°C | 2.2°C | 57 mm | 70 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 5.8°C | 90 mm | 74 cm |
| May | 17°C | 5°C | 11.1°C | 124 mm | 17 cm |
| June | 23°C | 10°C | 16.7°C | 97 mm | 2 cm |
| July | 28°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 13°C | 20.0°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 15.3°C | 50 mm | 5 cm |
| October | 14°C | 2°C | 7.9°C | 84 mm | 49 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 43 mm | 57 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −2.1°C | 38 mm | 64 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394834; 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 Lead?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00394834.
When is the last frost in Lead?
In Lead, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 18 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 29 in half of years and before September 15 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 181 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 291 year in 10 before September 15; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 133 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 154 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 6 in half of springs and before October 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lead in zone 5a in ZIP code 57732, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lead's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (30 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00394834; 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 Lead?
In a normal year in Lead, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 167 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 167a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 46high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 40a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 101°F, on July 7, 1936; the lowest is −40°F, on February 8, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 49.52 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 364.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00394834; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00394834. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lead?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lead, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.9 |
| February | 76% | 2.9 |
| March | 74% | 4.0 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.8 |
| July | 86% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.0 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 75% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.1 |
| December | 72% | 1.6 |
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 Lead need?
A normal year in Lead brings 7,206 heating degree days, 34% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 425 cooling degree days, 53% 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 2,153 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,147 | 0 |
| February | 1,030 | 0 |
| March | 904 | 0 |
| April | 674 | 0 |
| May | 414 | 8 |
| June | 146 | 59 |
| July | 33 | 163 |
| August | 47 | 141 |
| September | 211 | 49 |
| October | 583 | 3 |
| November | 879 | 0 |
| December | 1,138 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,206 | 425 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394834. 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 Lead been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.9°F, 0.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 46.3°F. 2 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.6°F | +0.3°F | 23.78 | 109.5 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | −1.9°F | 24.50 | 161.9 |
| 2023 | 45.6°F | −0.6°F | 31.14 | 101.8 |
| 2024 | 47.8°F | +1.5°F | 23.63 | 80.1 |
| 2025 | 45.9°F | −0.4°F | 32.46 | 78.6 |
Over 106 complete years from 1911 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.0°F per century (+0.11°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00394834; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lead's climate compare?
Lead is warmer than 60 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 93. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.3°F is warmer than 25%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lead 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 Lead share this climate record?
Central City 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.
- Central City, SD108 people · 2 mi NW
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 Lead's climate
What is the coldest month in Lead?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Lead?
Yes: 184 inches in a normal year, falling on 62 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (29.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lead?
May, with 4.90 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 1.51 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lead in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lead in zone 5a in ZIP code 57732, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lead's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Lead?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 18; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 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
- Deadwood, SD1 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Spearfish, SD12 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Fort Meade, SD14 miles from this station, 48.2°F a year
- Rochford (2 mi WNW), SD16 miles from this station, 38.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made