Lemmon, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lemmon's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 18.0 inches of precipitation and 42 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.6°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 30°C, 457 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLemmon
- Station IDUSC00394864
- Location45.94°N 102.16°W
- Elevation2,567 ft (782 m)
- Population1,141
On October 22, the normal high in Lemmon is 56°F and the normal low 32°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 Lemmon.
- Jan 29° 9°
- Feb 33° 12°
- Mar 45° 21°
- Apr 58° 32°
- May 69° 43°
- Jun 79° 53°
- Jul 87° 59°
- Aug 86° 57°
- Sep 77° 47°
- Oct 60° 35°
- Nov 44° 22°
- Dec 32° 12°
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 Lemmon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.03 in), the least in January (0.26 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 9°F | 18.9°F | 0.26 | 4.5 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| February | 33°F | 12°F | 22.3°F | 0.48 | 7.6 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 45°F | 21°F | 33.1°F | 0.79 | 7.5 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 1.71 | 4.8 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 69°F | 43°F | 56.0°F | 2.84 | 0.7 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 79°F | 53°F | 65.7°F | 3.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 87°F | 59°F | 72.6°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 86°F | 57°F | 71.3°F | 2.11 | 0.0 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 77°F | 47°F | 62.0°F | 1.48 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 35°F | 47.2°F | 1.54 | 3.1 | 6 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 22°F | 32.7°F | 0.60 | 5.2 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 32°F | 12°F | 22.1°F | 0.41 | 8.9 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 33°F | 45.7°F | 18.00 | 42.3 | 73 | 27 | 171 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −13°C | −7.3°C | 7 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 0°C | −11°C | −5.4°C | 12 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.6°C | 20 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 43 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 21°C | 6°C | 13.3°C | 72 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 26°C | 12°C | 18.7°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 15°C | 22.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 14°C | 21.8°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 8°C | 16.7°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 1°C | 8.4°C | 39 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 6°C | −6°C | 0.4°C | 15 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 0°C | −11°C | −5.5°C | 10 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394864; 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 Lemmon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September 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 USC00394864.
When is the last frost in Lemmon?
In Lemmon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 in half of years and before September 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
- May 101 year in 10 after May 24; 9 in 10 after April 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 142 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 160 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 1 in half of springs and before October 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lemmon in zone 4b in ZIP code 57638, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lemmon's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°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 USC00394864; 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 Lemmon?
In a normal year in Lemmon, 27 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 171 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 171a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 62high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 115°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −45°F, on February 16, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 33.98 in; the snowiest season is 2008–09, with 90.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00394864; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00394864. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lemmon?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lemmon, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 1.9 |
| February | 79% | 2.9 |
| March | 74% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 80% | 6.8 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.0 |
| September | 82% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.0 |
| November | 75% | 2.0 |
| December | 73% | 1.5 |
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 Lemmon need?
A normal year in Lemmon brings 7,638 heating degree days, 42% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 651 cooling degree days, 28% 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 2,608 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,431 | 0 |
| February | 1,196 | 0 |
| March | 989 | 0 |
| April | 610 | 1 |
| May | 297 | 18 |
| June | 72 | 94 |
| July | 13 | 250 |
| August | 22 | 217 |
| September | 155 | 67 |
| October | 556 | 5 |
| November | 969 | 0 |
| December | 1,330 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,638 | 651 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00394864. 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 Lemmon been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.0°F | +2.3°F | 18.65 | 17.0 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | −1.3°F | 17.25 | 72.4 |
| 2023 | 46.4°F | +0.7°F | 22.36 | 48.1 |
| 2024 | 48.1°F | +2.4°F | 17.22 | 20.6 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +0.4°F | 25.95 | 36.3 |
Over 90 complete years from 1909 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00394864; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lemmon's climate compare?
Lemmon is warmer than 48 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.7°F is warmer than 22%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lemmon is Dwa: continental, dry-winter, 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 Lemmon share this climate record?
Haynes 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.
- Haynes, ND16 people · 15 mi W
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 Lemmon's climate
What is the coldest month in Lemmon?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Lemmon?
Yes: 42 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lemmon?
June, with 3.03 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.26 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lemmon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lemmon in zone 4b in ZIP code 57638, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lemmon's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Lemmon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; in one year in ten it comes after May 24. Waiting until May 24 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
- Shadehill Reservoir, SD19 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Pretty Rock, ND22 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Hettinger, ND24 miles from this station, 42.4°F a year
- Mott, ND31 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made