Minot, ND 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 Minot's primary NOAA station, MINOT INTL AP.
The climate verdict for Minot
Winter sets the terms in Minot, North Dakota. A pronounced 57.4°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 43°F. At 39/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 4% of scores.
- 43°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 39/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 16.7"
- annual precipitation · 45" snow
- 144 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Minot: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00024013 · Minot, ND 43°F mean · 16.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #892
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Brookings
- PRCP-DRY 16.7"
- SWING-WIDE 57°F
- COMF-LOW 39/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,382 HDD
- STN-1 USW00024013
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Brookings, SD ( -0.1 °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 ND station list.
- Hot Montevideo, MN 44°F
- Minot (this station) 43°F
- Cold Brookings, SD 43°F
- Near Flandreau, SD 43°F
- Near Culbertson, MT 43°F
Minot sits in North Dakota, the #2 coldest U.S. state at 41.0°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Minot
Minot: 34/100 · grade F
Minot publishes all six Living Index dimensions from NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals.
PlainClimate-derived for Minot, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 39/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Summer moisture balance | 54.1°F mean dew point | 93/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 16.7 in · 18.3 from 35 in | 35/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 179 calendar days | 26/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 45.1 inches/year | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 144 days/year | 21/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 43.4°F · 24.1° from 67.5°F | 14/100 · F |
Minot · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Minot is a continental Köppen climate: Dwb
Coldest-month mean 13.8°F and warmest-month mean 71.2°F place this station in continental, dry-winter, warm summer climates (Dwb). Class Dwb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-winter, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dwb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 71.2°F
- Coldest month
- 13.8°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 Minot sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Minot's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 87%
- Among 6,861 stations, Minot sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 79%
- Minot's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 95%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Minot is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Minot compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Minot's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
39 4th percentile score exceeds 4% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 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
Minot's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 74 complete annual observations from 1949 to 2025, MINOT INTL AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.24°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Minot primary station fitted change +0.24 °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 | 23°F (-5°C) | 4°F (-15°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 0.3" | 9.8" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 27°F (-3°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 0.3" | 5.4" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 40°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.5" | 6.1" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 1.0" | 4.5" | 16.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.7" | 0.7" | 3.8 | 0.4 |
| June | 78°F (25°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 2.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.8 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 56°F (14°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 1.6" | 0.1" | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| October | 57°F (14°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.1" | 1.2" | 13.1 | 0.1 |
| November | 40°F (4°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.6" | 9.2" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 27°F (-3°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.3" | 8.1" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 179 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 4°F near January 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 17, then returns to freezing around October 22, covering 179 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 June 14, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 18 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 87 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Minot.
Where Minot Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 179 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Minot earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 9.8"
5.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.4"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.1"
5.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
7.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
10.2 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
7.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
6.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.2"
5.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.1"
5.6 days with precipitation
Minot runs a summer-peaked wet season
50% of Minot'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 3.7", on a wide 57.4°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, July, taking 54% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.3".
- Winter share: 5% 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.
Minot is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 87 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 24% of the calendar, and they carry 16.7" between them. At roughly 0.19 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is June at about 12 wet days; the driest is February at about 4.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Minot
Minot averages 45.1 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 35 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: 45.1 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 35 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 27% 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 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 10
50% probability date
Growing Season
144 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,382
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
552
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 12.0 | 45% | 31% |
| February | 74% | 11.5 | 44% | 34% |
| March | 65% | 11.8 | 46% | 30% |
| April | 55% | 11.8 | 41% | 29% |
| May | 61% | 10.9 | 40% | 26% |
| June | 67% | 9.7 | 49% | 18% |
| July | 63% | 9.0 | 57% | 10% |
| August | 61% | 9.7 | 58% | 15% |
| September | 60% | 11.1 | 58% | 18% |
| October | 68% | 11.9 | 48% | 32% |
| November | 73% | 11.9 | 45% | 37% |
| December | 75% | 11.8 | 47% | 35% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Minot 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 (43°F here).
- Ashton, ID 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Atlanta, MI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Buffalo, WY 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Plymouth, NH 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bushnell, NE 16.7" · 0.0" off
- Elida, NM 16.7" · 0.0" off
- Lewistown, MT 16.8" · 0.1" off
- Newell, SD 16.6" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Minot
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Minot logs 8,382 heating degree days, more than twice its 552 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 57.4°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 144 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. Minot coldest normal
January
Averaging 14°F (-10°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Minot typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Minot snow peak
January
Minot averages 45.1 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Minot's climate
How much snow does Minot get? ▼
How cold does Minot get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Minot? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Minot's primary station: MINOT INTL AP (USW00024013). 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 3853380). Match rule for Minot: 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 Minot 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.