Pine Ridge, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pine Ridge's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 16.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.8°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 32°C, 422 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPine Ridge Airport
- Station IDUSW00094039
- Location43.02°N 102.52°W
- Elevation3,278 ft (999 m)
- Population (census place)2,480
On October 22, the normal high in Pine Ridge is 59°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pine Ridge.
- Jan 37° 12°
- Feb 40° 14°
- Mar 51° 24°
- Apr 59° 32°
- May 69° 42°
- Jun 81° 53°
- Jul 89° 60°
- Aug 88° 57°
- Sep 79° 47°
- Oct 63° 33°
- Nov 49° 21°
- Dec 38° 13°
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 Pine Ridge each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.01 in), the least in January (0.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 12°F | 24.2°F | 0.33 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 40°F | 14°F | 27.2°F | 0.50 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 51°F | 24°F | 37.4°F | 0.81 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 32°F | 45.9°F | 2.08 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 42°F | 55.7°F | 2.62 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 81°F | 53°F | 66.7°F | 3.01 | 11 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 89°F | 60°F | 74.5°F | 2.12 | 8 | 18 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 88°F | 57°F | 72.4°F | 1.48 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 79°F | 47°F | 62.6°F | 1.45 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 33°F | 47.6°F | 1.25 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 21°F | 34.5°F | 0.60 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 38°F | 13°F | 25.3°F | 0.37 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 34°F | 47.8°F | 16.62 | 91 | 46 | 181 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −11°C | −4.3°C | 8 mm |
| February | 5°C | −10°C | −2.7°C | 13 mm |
| March | 11°C | −5°C | 3.0°C | 21 mm |
| April | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 53 mm |
| May | 21°C | 6°C | 13.2°C | 67 mm |
| June | 27°C | 12°C | 19.3°C | 76 mm |
| July | 32°C | 15°C | 23.6°C | 54 mm |
| August | 31°C | 14°C | 22.4°C | 38 mm |
| September | 26°C | 8°C | 17.0°C | 37 mm |
| October | 17°C | 0°C | 8.7°C | 32 mm |
| November | 9°C | −6°C | 1.4°C | 15 mm |
| December | 3°C | −11°C | −3.7°C | 9 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Gordon (18 miles away), gets 46 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094039; 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 Pine Ridge?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USW00094039.
When is the last frost in Pine Ridge?
In Pine Ridge, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after May 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 13 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 161 year in 10 after May 31; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 13; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 132 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 153 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pine Ridge in zone 5a in ZIP code 57770, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pine Ridge's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −22°F (22 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00094039; 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 Pine Ridge?
In a normal year in Pine Ridge, 46 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 181 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 181a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 36high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1997) is 111°F, on July 15, 2006; the lowest is −36°F, on December 22, 2022.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2014, with 22.65 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094039; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00094039. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pine Ridge?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pine Ridge, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.0 |
| February | 75% | 2.9 |
| March | 74% | 4.1 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 75% | 6.1 |
| June | 82% | 7.0 |
| July | 87% | 7.1 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 83% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.2 |
| November | 77% | 2.2 |
| December | 74% | 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 Pine Ridge need?
A normal year in Pine Ridge brings 7,012 heating degree days, 31% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 784 cooling degree days, 14% 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 2,748 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,266 | 0 |
| February | 1,057 | 0 |
| March | 856 | 0 |
| April | 575 | 1 |
| May | 309 | 21 |
| June | 74 | 125 |
| July | 7 | 300 |
| August | 22 | 250 |
| September | 155 | 83 |
| October | 544 | 5 |
| November | 915 | 0 |
| December | 1,230 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,012 | 784 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094039. 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 Pine Ridge been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 49.4°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.8°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.5°F | +1.7°F | 13.88 |
| 2024 | 49.4°F | +1.6°F | 8.40 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094039. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pine Ridge's climate compare?
Pine Ridge is warmer than 84 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.8°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pine Ridge is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Pine Ridge share this climate record?
White Clay has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- White Clay, NE0 people · 2 mi SW
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 Pine Ridge's climate
What is the coldest month in Pine Ridge?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Pine Ridge?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Pine Ridge's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Gordon (18 miles away), records 46 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Pine Ridge?
June, with 3.01 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pine Ridge in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pine Ridge in zone 5a in ZIP code 57770, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pine Ridge's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −22°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Pine Ridge?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 31. Waiting until May 31 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
- Oglala, SD16 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Manderson (3 mi NE), SD17 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Gordon, NE18 miles from this station, 46.3°F a year
- Rushville, NE19 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made