Menno, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Menno's primary NOAA station, MENNO.
The climate verdict for Menno
Winter sets the terms in Menno, South Dakota. A pronounced 55.2°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 48°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 48°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 25.0"
- annual precipitation · 39" snow
- 156 days
- frost-free growing season
Menno: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00395481 · Menno, SD 48°F mean · 25.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,196
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chamberlain
- PRCP-MID 25.0"
- SWING-WIDE 55°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,980 HDD
- STN-1 USC00395481
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Chamberlain Muni, SD (+ 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.
- Menno (this station) 48°F
- Cold Little Sioux, IA 48°F
- Hot Primghar, IA 48°F
- Near Chamberlain, SD 48°F
- Near Crofton, NE 48°F
Climate Living Index · Menno
Menno: 40/100 · grade D
Menno publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Menno, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 25.0 in · 10.0 from 35 in | 65/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 156 calendar days | 42/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.2°F · 19.3° from 67.5°F | 32/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 156 days/year | 30/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 39.2 inches/year | 29/100 · F |
Menno · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Menno is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 19.2°F and warmest-month mean 74.4°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
- 74.4°F
- Coldest month
- 19.2°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 Menno sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Menno's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 32nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 34th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 92%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Menno is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Menno compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Menno's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% 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
Menno's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 88 complete annual observations from 1897 to 2025, MENNO warmed at a fitted rate of 0.16°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Menno primary station fitted change +0.16 °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 | 28°F (-2°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.5" | 7.1" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 34°F (1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.7" | 7.4" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 47°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.3" | 6.0" | 22.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 2.7" | 4.0" | 10.7 | 0.4 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 3.4" | 0.3" | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.7 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 74°F (24°C) | 2.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.4 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.2 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 2.9" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.1" | 1.2" | 8.3 | 0.2 |
| November | 45°F (7°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.0" | 5.4" | 23.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 32°F (0°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.8" | 7.8" | 30.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 14, short of 90°F on every date, while 156 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 10°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 3, then returns to freezing around October 31, covering 156 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 23, when 35% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 5 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 82 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 23 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 Menno.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.1"
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.4"
4.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.0"
8.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
10.8 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.4"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.8"
4.8 days with precipitation
Menno runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Menno'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 3.6", on a wide 55.2°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 41% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 8% 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 Menno's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 82 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 25.0" between them, or roughly 0.31 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 Menno
Menno averages 39.2 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 24 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: 39.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 24 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 16% 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
October 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
156 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,980
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
892
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Menno 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 (48°F here).
- Belle Plaine, IA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Broadus, MT 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Compton, IL 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Copake, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (25.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ada, MN 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Turkey, TX 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Dilley, TX 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Iliamna, AK 25.0" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Menno
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Menno logs 6,980 heating degree days, more than twice its 892 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.2°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Menno's frost-free season lasts about 156 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Menno coldest normal
January
Averaging 19°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Menno typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Menno snow peak
December
Menno averages 39.2 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Menno's climate
How much snow does Menno get? ▼
How cold does Menno get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Menno? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Menno's primary station: MENNO (USC00395481). 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 4641980). Match rule for Menno: 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 Menno 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.