Medora, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Medora's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 17.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.3°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 443 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMedora (7 mi E)
- Station IDUSW00094080
- Location46.89°N 103.38°W
- Elevation2,771 ft (845 m)
- Population160
On October 23, the normal high in Medora is 51°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Medora.
- Jan 27° 9°
- Feb 29° 11°
- Mar 41° 21°
- Apr 53° 31°
- May 64° 42°
- Jun 74° 52°
- Jul 82° 58°
- Aug 82° 56°
- Sep 72° 46°
- Oct 55° 34°
- Nov 40° 21°
- Dec 29° 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 Medora each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.66 in), the least in February (0.51 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 9°F | 17.7°F | 0.62 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 29°F | 11°F | 20.1°F | 0.51 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 41°F | 21°F | 30.8°F | 0.90 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 31°F | 41.8°F | 1.78 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 42°F | 53.2°F | 2.66 | 12 | <1 | 4 | 15 h |
| June | 74°F | 52°F | 62.8°F | 2.54 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 58°F | 70.0°F | 2.43 | 9 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 82°F | 56°F | 69.1°F | 1.69 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 1.84 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 55°F | 34°F | 44.3°F | 1.23 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 40°F | 21°F | 30.6°F | 0.67 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 29°F | 12°F | 20.3°F | 0.58 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 33°F | 43.3°F | 17.45 | 102 | 17 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −7.9°C | 16 mm |
| February | −1°C | −12°C | −6.6°C | 13 mm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.7°C | 23 mm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 45 mm |
| May | 18°C | 6°C | 11.8°C | 68 mm |
| June | 23°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 65 mm |
| July | 28°C | 14°C | 21.1°C | 62 mm |
| August | 28°C | 13°C | 20.6°C | 43 mm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 47 mm |
| October | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 31 mm |
| November | 4°C | −6°C | −0.8°C | 17 mm |
| December | −2°C | −11°C | −6.5°C | 15 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Medora's own co-op station Medora station does: 30 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094080; 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 Medora?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USW00094080.
When is the last frost in Medora?
In Medora, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 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 91 year in 10 after May 21; 9 in 10 after April 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 15; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 142 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 161 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Medora in zone 4a in ZIP code 58645, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Medora's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −22°F (15 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 North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00094080; 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 Medora?
In a normal year in Medora, 17 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 102 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 71high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 102a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 2004) is 108°F, on July 12, 2026; the lowest is −34°F, on January 13, 2024.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 24.09 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094080; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00094080. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Medora?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Medora, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 1.8 |
| February | 78% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.9 |
| June | 79% | 6.7 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 80% | 4.4 |
| October | 73% | 2.8 |
| November | 73% | 1.8 |
| December | 70% | 1.3 |
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 Medora need?
A normal year in Medora brings 8,313 heating degree days, 55% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 439 cooling degree days, 52% 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 2,157 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,466 | 0 |
| February | 1,256 | 0 |
| March | 1,060 | 0 |
| April | 698 | 0 |
| May | 374 | 8 |
| June | 115 | 47 |
| July | 20 | 175 |
| August | 39 | 164 |
| September | 223 | 43 |
| October | 644 | 2 |
| November | 1,034 | 0 |
| December | 1,385 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,313 | 439 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094080. 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 Medora been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 44.0°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.9°F | +2.6°F | 14.76 |
| 2022 | 41.9°F | −1.4°F | 21.53 |
| 2023 | 44.6°F | +1.3°F | 18.84 |
| 2024 | 45.8°F | +2.5°F | 15.30 |
| 2025 | 44.0°F | +0.7°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094080. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Medora's climate compare?
Medora is warmer than 85 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 17. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.3°F is warmer than 13%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Medora 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 Medora share this climate record?
Belfield 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.
- Belfield, ND992 people · 9 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Medora's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Medora. This page uses Medora (7 mi E); the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medora station USC00325813 | 7 mi W | 2,268 ft | 43.1°F | 3°F | 86°F | 15.8 | 30 | May 19 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Medora's climate
What is the coldest month in Medora?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Medora?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Medora's NOAA station; Medora's own co-op station Medora station records 30 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Medora?
May, with 2.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.51 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Medora in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Medora in zone 4a in ZIP code 58645, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Medora's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −22°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Medora?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; in one year in ten it comes after May 21. Waiting until May 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fairfield, ND22 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Theodore Roosevelt Airport, ND28 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Dickinson, ND28 miles from this station, 42.0°F a year
- Amidon, ND29 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made