New Salem, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
New Salem's normal year runs from 2°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 18.3 inches of precipitation and 45 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.3°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 28°C, 466 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNew Salem (5 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00326365
- Location46.89°N 101.49°W
- Elevation2,150 ft (655 m)
- Population1,068
On October 23, the normal high in New Salem is 52°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for New Salem.
- Jan 21° 2°
- Feb 26° 6°
- Mar 39° 18°
- Apr 54° 29°
- May 66° 41°
- Jun 75° 51°
- Jul 83° 56°
- Aug 82° 54°
- Sep 72° 45°
- Oct 56° 31°
- Nov 39° 18°
- Dec 26° 7°
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 New Salem each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 2°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.45 in), the least in January (0.38 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21°F | 2°F | 11.5°F | 0.38 | 6.8 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 26°F | 6°F | 16.0°F | 0.43 | 6.5 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 18°F | 28.1°F | 0.71 | 7.6 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 29°F | 41.3°F | 1.50 | 5.0 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 2.66 | 0.8 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 15 h |
| June | 75°F | 51°F | 63.0°F | 3.45 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 83°F | 56°F | 69.3°F | 2.83 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 82°F | 54°F | 68.1°F | 2.16 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 45°F | 58.6°F | 1.73 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 31°F | 43.6°F | 1.38 | 3.2 | 8 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 18°F | 28.6°F | 0.58 | 5.7 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 26°F | 7°F | 16.5°F | 0.52 | 8.9 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 30°F | 41.5°F | 18.33 | 44.5 | 96 | 16 | 192 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −17°C | −11.4°C | 10 mm | 17 cm |
| February | −3°C | −15°C | −8.9°C | 11 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 4°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 18 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 5.2°C | 38 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 68 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 24°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 13°C | 20.7°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 12°C | 20.1°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 7°C | 14.8°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 0°C | 6.4°C | 35 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 4°C | −8°C | −1.9°C | 15 mm | 14 cm |
| December | −3°C | −14°C | −8.6°C | 13 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00326365; 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 New Salem?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00326365.
When is the last frost in New Salem?
In New Salem, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 18 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 24 in half of years and before September 12 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 181 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 241 year in 10 before September 12; 9 in 10 before October 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 127 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 147 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 8 in half of springs and before October 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts New Salem in zone 4a in ZIP code 58563, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, New Salem's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00326365; 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 New Salem?
In a normal year in New Salem, 16 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 192 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 192a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 84high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 119°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −43°F, on January 13, 1916.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1977, with 28.22 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 94.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00326365; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00326365. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is New Salem?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around New Salem, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 1.8 |
| February | 81% | 2.9 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 78% | 6.5 |
| July | 85% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.3 |
| October | 71% | 2.7 |
| November | 71% | 1.8 |
| December | 68% | 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 New Salem need?
A normal year in New Salem brings 8,946 heating degree days, 67% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 418 cooling degree days, 54% 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 2,111 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,658 | 0 |
| February | 1,372 | 0 |
| March | 1,144 | 0 |
| April | 712 | 1 |
| May | 371 | 10 |
| June | 117 | 57 |
| July | 32 | 164 |
| August | 49 | 147 |
| September | 230 | 38 |
| October | 665 | 2 |
| November | 1,092 | 0 |
| December | 1,503 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,946 | 418 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00326365. 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 New Salem been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 42.7°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 41.5°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.3°F | +2.8°F | 14.48 | 22.9 |
| 2022 | 40.0°F | −1.5°F | 21.20 | 79.7 |
| 2023 | 41.9°F | +0.4°F | 22.09 | 66.1 |
| 2024 | 44.0°F | +2.5°F | 14.88 | 29.1 |
| 2025 | 42.7°F | +1.2°F | 22.30 | 31.4 |
Over 95 complete years from 1907 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00326365; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does New Salem's climate compare?
New Salem is warmer than 51 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 28. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.5°F is warmer than 8%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, New Salem 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.
Questions about New Salem's climate
What is the coldest month in New Salem?
January, with a normal high of 21°F and a normal low of 2°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 56°F at night).
Does it snow in New Salem?
Yes: 45 inches in a normal year, falling on 41 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in New Salem?
June, with 3.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.38 in.
What plant hardiness zone is New Salem in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts New Salem in zone 4a in ZIP code 58563, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at New Salem's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in New Salem?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 18; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 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
- Almont, ND12 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Center, ND17 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Heart Butte Dam, ND25 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Hebron, ND26 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made