Murdo, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Murdo's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 21.6 inches of precipitation and 49 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.6°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 30°C, 550 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMurdo
- Station IDUSC00395891
- Location43.89°N 100.71°W
- Elevation2,316 ft (706 m)
- Population464
On October 24, the normal high in Murdo is 56°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Murdo.
- Jan 31° 12°
- Feb 34° 14°
- Mar 45° 24°
- Apr 57° 34°
- May 68° 46°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 87° 63°
- Aug 85° 61°
- Sep 77° 51°
- Oct 60° 37°
- Nov 45° 25°
- Dec 33° 15°
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 Murdo each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.63 in), the least in January (0.57 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 12°F | 21.1°F | 0.57 | 7.5 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 34°F | 14°F | 24.4°F | 0.71 | 8.5 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 24°F | 34.7°F | 1.17 | 8.1 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 34°F | 45.4°F | 2.37 | 6.8 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 46°F | 56.6°F | 3.44 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.5°F | 3.63 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 63°F | 74.6°F | 2.84 | 0.0 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 85°F | 61°F | 73.1°F | 2.37 | 0.0 | 8 | 11 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 51°F | 63.9°F | 1.48 | 0.0 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 37°F | 48.8°F | 1.80 | 1.8 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 25°F | 35.0°F | 0.68 | 5.6 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 33°F | 15°F | 24.2°F | 0.59 | 10.8 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 37°F | 47.4°F | 21.65 | 49.1 | 91 | 34 | 157 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −11°C | −6.1°C | 14 mm | 19 cm |
| February | 1°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 18 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.5°C | 30 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 60 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 13.7°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.7°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.7°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.3°C | 46 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 7°C | −4°C | 1.7°C | 17 mm | 14 cm |
| December | 1°C | −9°C | −4.3°C | 15 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00395891; 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 Murdo?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00395891.
When is the last frost in Murdo?
In Murdo, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 25 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 31 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 158 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 22 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Murdo in zone 5a in ZIP code 57559, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Murdo's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00395891; 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 Murdo?
In a normal year in Murdo, 34 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 157 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 157a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 55high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 116°F, on July 5, 1936; the lowest is −35°F, on January 12, 1916.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 32.80 in; the snowiest season is 2018–19, with 101.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00395891; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00395891. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Murdo?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Murdo, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.0 |
| February | 76% | 3.0 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 81% | 6.8 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 5.9 |
| September | 82% | 4.7 |
| October | 76% | 3.2 |
| November | 76% | 2.2 |
| December | 73% | 1.7 |
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 Murdo need?
A normal year in Murdo brings 7,208 heating degree days, 34% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 846 cooling degree days, 7% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,917 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,359 | 0 |
| February | 1,138 | 0 |
| March | 940 | 0 |
| April | 590 | 2 |
| May | 286 | 27 |
| June | 60 | 135 |
| July | 7 | 306 |
| August | 15 | 266 |
| September | 136 | 102 |
| October | 510 | 8 |
| November | 900 | 0 |
| December | 1,266 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,208 | 846 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00395891. 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 Murdo been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 50.2°F, 2.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.4°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2023 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 49.5°F | +2.1°F | 22.48 | 53.8 |
| 2024 | 50.2°F | +2.8°F | 19.92 | 30.0 |
Over 70 complete years from 1912 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00395891; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Murdo's climate compare?
Murdo is warmer than 74 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 41. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.4°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Murdo is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Murdo share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Draper, SD42 people · 9 mi E
- Okaton, SD41 people · 9 mi W
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Murdo's climate
What is the coldest month in Murdo?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Murdo?
Yes: 49 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (10.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Murdo?
June, with 3.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.57 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Murdo in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Murdo in zone 5a in ZIP code 57559, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Murdo's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Murdo?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pierre (24 mi S), SD20 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Fort Pierre (17 mi WSW), SD25 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Midland, SD25 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Cedar Butte, SD27 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made