Pollock, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pollock's normal year runs from 3°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 17.8 inches of precipitation and 39 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.8°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 30°C, 453 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPollock
- Station IDUSC00396712
- Location45.90°N 100.29°W
- Elevation1,639 ft (500 m)
- Population222
On October 23, the normal high in Pollock is 54°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pollock.
- Jan 24° 3°
- Feb 29° 8°
- Mar 42° 19°
- Apr 58° 32°
- May 70° 44°
- Jun 79° 55°
- Jul 85° 60°
- Aug 84° 57°
- Sep 75° 48°
- Oct 58° 34°
- Nov 41° 21°
- Dec 28° 9°
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 Pollock each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 3°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.21 in), the least in January (0.37 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 3°F | 13.5°F | 0.37 | 7.7 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 29°F | 8°F | 18.2°F | 0.46 | 7.3 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 42°F | 19°F | 30.6°F | 0.71 | 5.5 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 1.32 | 4.2 | 7 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 70°F | 44°F | 56.9°F | 2.77 | 0.2 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 79°F | 55°F | 66.8°F | 3.21 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 60°F | 72.6°F | 2.74 | 0.0 | 9 | 9 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 84°F | 57°F | 70.9°F | 2.18 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 75°F | 48°F | 61.5°F | 1.54 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 34°F | 46.3°F | 1.58 | 1.6 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 21°F | 31.0°F | 0.49 | 4.8 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 28°F | 9°F | 18.6°F | 0.46 | 7.7 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 32°F | 44.3°F | 17.83 | 39.0 | 81 | 23 | 176 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −10.3°C | 9 mm | 20 cm |
| February | −2°C | −14°C | −7.7°C | 12 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 5°C | −7°C | −0.8°C | 18 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 34 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 70 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 15°C | 22.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.6°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 9°C | 16.4°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 1°C | 7.9°C | 40 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 5°C | −6°C | −0.6°C | 12 mm | 12 cm |
| December | −2°C | −13°C | −7.4°C | 12 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00396712; 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 Pollock?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00396712.
When is the last frost in Pollock?
In Pollock, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 30 in half of years and before September 18 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 81 year in 10 after May 21; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 301 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 143 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 160 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pollock in zone 4a in ZIP code 57648, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pollock's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00396712; 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 Pollock?
In a normal year in Pollock, 23 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 176 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 176a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 72high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1908) is 118°F, on July 20, 1934; the lowest is −51°F, on February 16, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 28.16 in; the snowiest season is 2018–19, with 89.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00396712; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00396712. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pollock?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pollock, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.8 |
| February | 79% | 2.9 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.7 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 84% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 4.4 |
| October | 73% | 2.9 |
| November | 73% | 1.9 |
| December | 69% | 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 Pollock need?
A normal year in Pollock brings 8,144 heating degree days, 52% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 638 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 2,581 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,595 | 0 |
| February | 1,309 | 0 |
| March | 1,067 | 0 |
| April | 611 | 2 |
| May | 273 | 22 |
| June | 57 | 109 |
| July | 10 | 244 |
| August | 21 | 202 |
| September | 163 | 58 |
| October | 581 | 3 |
| November | 1,022 | 0 |
| December | 1,438 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,144 | 638 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00396712. 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 Pollock been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.4°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.2°F | +2.9°F | 12.44 | 14.5 |
| 2022 | 43.5°F | −0.8°F | 16.62 | 54.0 |
| 2023 | 44.7°F | +0.4°F | 21.08 | 47.5 |
| 2024 | 47.1°F | +2.8°F | 13.90 | 16.7 |
| 2025 | 45.4°F | +1.1°F | 21.86 | 36.0 |
Over 93 complete years from 1911 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00396712; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pollock's climate compare?
Pollock is warmer than 31 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.3°F is warmer than 17%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pollock 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 Pollock share this climate record?
4 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.
- Herreid, SD405 people · 11 mi SE
- Strasburg, ND360 people · 17 mi N
- Kenel, SD124 people · 9 mi W
- Hague, ND66 people · 16 mi NE
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 Pollock's climate
What is the coldest month in Pollock?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 3°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Pollock?
Yes: 39 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Pollock?
June, with 3.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pollock in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pollock in zone 4a in ZIP code 57648, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pollock's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Pollock?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; in one year in ten it comes after May 21. Waiting until May 21 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
- Linton, ND25 miles from this station, 42.9°F a year
- Mobridge, SD25 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- McLaughlin, SD25 miles from this station, 43.2°F a year
- Selby, SD30 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made