Mission, 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 Mission's primary NOAA station, MISSION - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Mission
Mission, South Dakota has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows 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
- 20.9"
- annual precipitation · 42" snow
- 145 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Mission: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00395620 · Mission, SD 48°F mean · 20.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #1,990
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Denison
- PRCP-DRY 20.9"
- SWING-WIDE 51°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,107 HDD
- STN-MULTI USC00395620
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Denison, IA (+ 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.
- Mission (this station) 48°F
- Hot Oelwein, IA 48°F
- Near Denison, IA 48°F
- Near Bonesteel, SD 48°F
- Cold Wood, SD 47°F
Climate Living Index · Mission
Mission: 31/100 · grade F
Mission publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mission, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 20.9 in · 14.1 from 35 in | 51/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 47.5°F · 20.0° from 67.5°F | 29/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 176 calendar days | 28/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 41.5 inches/year | 26/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 145 days/year | 22/100 · F |
Mission · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mission is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 22.9°F and warmest-month mean 74.1°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
- 74.1°F
- Coldest month
- 22.9°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 Mission sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mission's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 71%
- Among 6,861 stations, Mission sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 71%
- Mission's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 84%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Mission is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mission compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mission'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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 7.2" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 38°F (3°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 0.7" | 7.5" | 26.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.1" | 7.1" | 24.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.5" | 5.7" | 13.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.4" | 0.1" | 2.2 | 1.0 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.9 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.7 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 1.0 | 4.1 |
| October | 62°F (16°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.7" | 1.2" | 11.2 | 0.3 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.7" | 6.1" | 24.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 0.6" | 6.6" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 21, short of 90°F on every date, while 176 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 11°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 15, then returns to freezing around October 23, covering 176 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 5, when 41% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 5 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 90 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mission.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.2"
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.1"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.7"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
10.5 days with precipitation
11.8 days with precipitation
8.8 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.1"
4.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.6"
4.7 days with precipitation
Mission runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Mission'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 51.2°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, July, taking 46% 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 Mission's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 89 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 20.9" between them, or roughly 0.23 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 Mission
Mission averages 41.5 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 20 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: 41.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 20 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 20% 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 9
50% probability date
Growing Season
145 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,107
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
779
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Mission 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).
- Anselmo, NE 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Butte, NE 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Denison, IA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Elizabeth, IL 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (20.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- San Angelo, TX 20.9" · 0.0" off
- Jamestown, ND 20.9" · 0.0" off
- Angel Fire, NM 20.9" · 0.0" off
- Rugby, ND 21.0" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Mission
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Mission's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,107 annual heating degree days against 779 for cooling. Its 51.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 145 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. Mission coldest normal
January
Averaging 23°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Mission typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Mission snow peak
February
Mission averages 41.5 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Mission's climate
How much snow does Mission get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Mission get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Mission? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mission's primary station: MISSION (USC00395620). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Mission area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 4642940). Match rule for Mission: 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 Mission 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.