Pipestone, Minnesota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pipestone's normal year runs from 5°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 28.6 inches of precipitation and 40 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.9°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 28°C, 726 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPipestone
- Station IDUSC00216565
- Location44.01°N 96.33°W
- Elevation1,705 ft (520 m)
- Population4,034
On October 23, the normal high in Pipestone is 55°F and the normal low 33°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 Pipestone.
- Jan 22° 5°
- Feb 27° 9°
- Mar 40° 21°
- Apr 55° 34°
- May 68° 47°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 80° 59°
- Sep 73° 50°
- Oct 59° 36°
- Nov 42° 23°
- Dec 28° 11°
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 Pipestone each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 5°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.45 in), the least in January (0.67 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F | 5°F | 13.6°F | 0.67 | 6.0 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 27°F | 9°F | 18.0°F | 0.73 | 8.8 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 21°F | 30.6°F | 1.47 | 5.7 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 34°F | 44.4°F | 2.99 | 4.0 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 47°F | 57.3°F | 3.97 | 0.1 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 67.8°F | 4.45 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.8°F | 3.30 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.5°F | 3.46 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 50°F | 61.5°F | 3.25 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 36°F | 47.3°F | 2.35 | 1.0 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 42°F | 23°F | 32.1°F | 1.10 | 5.5 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 28°F | 11°F | 19.4°F | 0.85 | 8.5 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 34°F | 44.4°F | 28.59 | 39.6 | 97 | 11 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −15°C | −10.2°C | 17 mm | 15 cm |
| February | −3°C | −13°C | −7.8°C | 19 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 4°C | −6°C | −0.8°C | 37 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 76 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 14.1°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 2°C | 8.5°C | 60 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 5°C | −5°C | 0.1°C | 28 mm | 14 cm |
| December | −2°C | −12°C | −7.0°C | 22 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00216565; 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 Pipestone?
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 (9).
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 USC00216565.
When is the last frost in Pipestone?
In Pipestone, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 20 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 41 year in 10 after May 19; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 152 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 170 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pipestone in zone 4b in ZIP code 56164, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pipestone's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Minnesota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00216565; 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 Pipestone?
In a normal year in Pipestone, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 97 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 81high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 97a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1877) is 108°F, on May 31, 1934; the lowest is −44°F, on December 24, 1983.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 41.43 in; the snowiest season is 2010–11, with 87.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00216565; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00216565. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pipestone?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pipestone, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.0 |
| February | 80% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 70% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.3 |
| July | 84% | 6.7 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 2.9 |
| November | 71% | 1.9 |
| December | 67% | 1.4 |
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 Pipestone need?
A normal year in Pipestone brings 8,088 heating degree days, 51% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 637 cooling degree days, 30% 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 2,611 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,593 | 0 |
| February | 1,316 | 0 |
| March | 1,067 | 0 |
| April | 621 | 1 |
| May | 275 | 36 |
| June | 53 | 139 |
| July | 15 | 225 |
| August | 27 | 167 |
| September | 169 | 64 |
| October | 554 | 5 |
| November | 987 | 0 |
| December | 1,412 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,088 | 637 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00216565. 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 Pipestone been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.0°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.9°F | +2.5°F | 27.70 | 34.7 |
| 2022 | 43.6°F | −0.8°F | 19.37 | 30.0 |
| 2023 | 46.1°F | +1.7°F | 18.07 | 33.5 |
| 2024 | 46.7°F | +2.3°F | 28.06 | 17.5 |
| 2025 | 46.0°F | +1.6°F | 22.11 | 20.8 |
Over 101 complete years from 1900 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00216565; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pipestone's climate compare?
Pipestone is warmer than 86 of the other 128 places with their own NOAA record in Minnesota, and wetter than 43. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.4°F is warmer than 17%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pipestone 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 Pipestone share this climate record?
11 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.
- Dell Rapids, SD3,825 people · 23 mi SW
- Garretson, SD1,169 people · 22 mi SW
- Elkton, SD778 people · 17 mi NW
- Trent, SD237 people · 18 mi SW
- Holland, MN173 people · 8 mi NE
- Trosky, MN100 people · 9 mi SE
- Sherman, SD76 people · 19 mi SW
- Hatfield, MN54 people · 8 mi SE
- Ward, SD42 people · 12 mi NW
- Newdale Colony, SD0 people · 21 mi NW
- Pleasant Valley Colony, SD0 people · 8 mi NW
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 Pipestone's climate
What is the coldest month in Pipestone?
January, with a normal high of 22°F and a normal low of 5°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Pipestone?
Yes: 40 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (8.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Pipestone?
June, with 4.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.67 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pipestone in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pipestone in zone 4b in ZIP code 56164, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pipestone's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Pipestone?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 19. Waiting until May 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Minnesota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Flandreau, SD14 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Lake Wilson, MN19 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Brookings, SD30 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Wentworth, SD34 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made