Oahe Dam, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Oahe Dam's primary NOAA station, OAHE DAM.
The climate verdict for Oahe Dam
Winter sets the terms in Oahe Dam, South Dakota. A pronounced 55.6°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 47°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 47°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 19.3"
- annual precipitation
- 152 days
- frost-free growing season
Oahe Dam: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00396170 · Oahe Dam, SD 47°F mean · 19.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,852
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pocahontas
- PRCP-DRY 19.3"
- SWING-WIDE 56°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,361 HDD
- STN-1 USC00396170
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Pocahontas, 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.
- Oahe Dam (this station) 47°F
- Cold Chamberlain, SD 47°F
- Hot Pierre Rgnl, SD 47°F
- Near Pocahontas, IA 47°F
- Near Spencer, IA 47°F
Climate Living Index · Oahe Dam
Oahe Dam: 31/100 · grade F
Oahe Dam publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Oahe Dam, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 19.3 in · 15.7 from 35 in | 44/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 173 calendar days | 30/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.9°F · 20.6° from 67.5°F | 27/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 152 days/year | 27/100 · F |
Oahe Dam · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Oahe Dam is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 19.2°F and warmest-month mean 74.8°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
- 74.8°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 Oahe Dam sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Oahe Dam's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 73%
- Among 6,861 stations, Oahe Dam sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 73%
- Oahe Dam's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 93%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Oahe Dam is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Oahe Dam compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Oahe Dam's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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
Oahe Dam's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 72 complete annual observations from 1910 to 2025, OAHE DAM warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Oahe Dam primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F (-1°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.4" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 34°F (1°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.6" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.8" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.8" | 14.5 | 0.3 |
| May | 70°F (21°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.2" | 2.5 | 1.3 |
| June | 80°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 3.3" | 0.0 | 4.7 |
| July | 89°F (32°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 14.2 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 2.3" | 0.0 | 14.1 |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.6" | 1.0 | 5.5 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 1.6" | 10.5 | 0.7 |
| November | 47°F (8°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.6" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 173 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 16, then returns to freezing around October 27, covering 173 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.
The widest day
September 12 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 Oahe Dam.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Oahe Dam runs a summer-peaked wet season
42% of Oahe Dam'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 3.3", on a wide 55.6°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 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.4".
- 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 5
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
152 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,361
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
809
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to Oahe Dam 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 (47°F here).
- Bath, NY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Battle Creek, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bayard, WV 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bellevue, ID 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (19.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Oakley, KS 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Elizabeth, CO 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Greer, AZ 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Leoti, KS 19.3" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Oahe Dam's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Oahe Dam logs 7,361 heating degree days, more than twice its 809 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.6°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Oahe Dam's frost-free season lasts about 152 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in this dry, high-range record. The gap is 55.6°F, so a single annual figure is especially lossy; the annual average is 47°f. Compare monthly temperature and precipitation together before drawing a seasonal conclusion about Oahe Dam.
Oahe Dam's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 19.3 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Oahe Dam's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Oahe Dam, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Oahe Dam's climate
How much rain does Oahe Dam get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Oahe Dam get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Oahe Dam? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Oahe Dam's primary station: OAHE DAM (USC00396170). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Oahe Dam; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Oahe Dam 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.