Oakes, ND Climate: Temperature by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Oakes's primary NOAA station, OAKES.
The climate verdict for Oakes
Winter sets the terms in Oakes, North Dakota. A pronounced 61.4°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 42°F. July is the warmest month at 71°F and January the coldest at 9°F.
- 42°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 143 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Oakes: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00326620 · Oakes, ND 42°F mean
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-UNK · SWING-WIDE · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-PART
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #549
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Rothsay
- PRCP-UNK Rain n/a
- SWING-WIDE 61°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 8,963 HDD
- STN-1 USC00326620
- BOOK-PART 4/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Rothsay, MN (+ 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.
- Oakes (this station) 42°F
- Hot Rothsay, MN 42°F
- Near Forman, ND 42°F
- Cold Lisbon, ND 41°F
- Near Fargo, ND 41°F
Oakes 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 · Oakes
Oakes: 15/100 · grade F
Oakes publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Oakes, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 187 calendar days | 21/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 143 days/year | 20/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 41.6°F · 25.9° from 67.5°F | 8/100 · F |
Oakes · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
National standing · heating-led station
Where Oakes sits across the climate record
Available NOAA 1991–2020 fields for Oakes are ranked only against stations that publish the same field, missing metrics stay blank rather than estimated.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 92%
- Among 6,861 stations, Oakes sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Oakes is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19°F (-7°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 25°F (-4°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | N/A | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 38°F (3°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | N/A | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 54°F (12°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | N/A | 18.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | N/A | 2.8 | 0.9 |
| June | 78°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | N/A | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | N/A | 0.0 | 5.6 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | N/A | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | N/A | 1.8 | 1.2 |
| October | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | N/A | 15.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 38°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | N/A | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 25°F (-4°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 23, short of 90°F on every date, while 187 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -2°F near January 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 21, then returns to freezing around October 18, covering 187 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 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Oakes.
Where Oakes Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 187 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Oakes 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
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 28
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 8
50% probability date
Growing Season
143 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,963
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
485
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Oakes 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 (42°F here).
- Cripple Creek, CO 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Greenland, MI 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Johnson, VT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Judith Gap, MT 42°F · 0.0°F off
Data-derived climate profile
How Oakes's climate pattern fits together
heating led · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Oakes logs 8,963 heating degree days, more than twice its 485 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.4°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 143 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.
Oakes's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 61.4°F between them. The annual average is 42°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
A moisture-range label is withheld because Oakes's annual precipitation total is unavailable. Monthly source values remain visible where NOAA provides them, and no annual amount is reconstructed from incomplete data.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Oakes'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 Oakes, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Oakes's climate
How cold does Oakes get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Oakes? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Oakes's primary station: OAKES (USC00326620). 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 3858740). Match rule for Oakes: 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 Oakes 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.