Madison, 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 Madison's primary NOAA station, MADISON 2SE.
The climate verdict for Madison
Winter sets the terms in Madison, South Dakota. A pronounced 57.7°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 45°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 45°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 26.4"
- annual precipitation · 37" snow
- 148 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Madison: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00395090 · Madison, SD 45°F mean · 26.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,235
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Granite Falls
- PRCP-MID 26.4"
- SWING-WIDE 58°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,998 HDD
- STN-1 USC00395090
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Granite Falls, MN (+ 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.
- Madison (this station) 45°F
- Cold Waseca S Rsch &…, MN 45°F
- Hot Redwood Falls, MN 45°F
- Near Granite Falls, MN 45°F
- Near U of MN St Paul, MN 45°F
Climate Living Index · Madison
Madison: 34/100 · grade F
Madison publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Madison, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 26.4 in · 8.6 from 35 in | 70/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 172 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 36.8 inches/year | 31/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 148 days/year | 24/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.7°F · 22.8° from 67.5°F | 19/100 · F |
Madison · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Madison is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 14.4°F and warmest-month mean 72.1°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 72.1°F
- Coldest month
- 14.4°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 Madison sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Madison's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 82%
- Among 6,861 stations, Madison sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 36th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 95%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Madison is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Madison compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Madison's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 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
Madison's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 47 complete annual observations from 1962 to 2025, MADISON 2SE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.33°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Madison primary station fitted change +0.33 °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 | 24°F (-5°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 0.5" | 5.6" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 29°F (-2°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.7" | 8.4" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 41°F (5°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.0" | 5.0" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.7" | 4.2" | 14.2 | 0.1 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.7" | 0.1" | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| June | 78°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| July | 83°F (29°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.2 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.2" | 0.0" | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| October | 59°F (15°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 2.2" | 0.8" | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 42°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.8" | 4.9" | 25.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 29°F (-2°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 0.6" | 7.8" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 16, short of 90°F on every date, while 172 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 4°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 12, then returns to freezing around October 24, covering 172 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 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 23 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 87 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Madison.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 5.6"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.4"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
9.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
11.5 days with precipitation
11.4 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.9"
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.8"
4.7 days with precipitation
Madison runs a summer-peaked wet season
42% of Madison'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 4.2", on a wide 57.7°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, May, August, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 7% 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 Madison's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 87 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 26.4" between them, or roughly 0.30 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 Madison
Madison averages 36.8 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 17 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: 36.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 17 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 14% 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 30
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 5
50% probability date
Growing Season
148 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,998
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
631
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Madison 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 (45°F here).
- Buena Vista, CO 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Canby, MN 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Evergreen, CO 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Flagstaff, AZ 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (26.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mangum, OK 26.4" · 0.0" off
- McLean, TX 26.4" · 0.0" off
- Glenwood, MN 26.4" · 0.1" off
- Mason City, NE 26.3" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Madison
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Madison logs 7,998 heating degree days, more than twice its 631 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 57.7°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 148 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. Madison coldest normal
January
Averaging 14°F (-10°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Madison typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Madison snow peak
February
Madison averages 36.8 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Madison's climate
How much snow does Madison get? ▼
How cold does Madison get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Madison? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Madison's primary station: MADISON 2SE (USC00395090). 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 4640220). Match rule for Madison: 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 Madison 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.