Pretty Rock, North Dakota climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Pretty Rock's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 16.5 inches of precipitation and 51 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.4°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 29°C, 420 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPretty Rock
- Station IDUSC00327311
- Location46.18°N 101.86°W
- Elevation2,480 ft (756 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Pretty Rock is 53°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pretty Rock.
- Jan 26° 6°
- Feb 30° 9°
- Mar 43° 19°
- Apr 56° 30°
- May 68° 41°
- Jun 77° 51°
- Jul 85° 56°
- Aug 84° 54°
- Sep 74° 45°
- Oct 57° 33°
- Nov 41° 19°
- Dec 30° 10°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Pretty Rock each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.84 in), the least in January (0.29 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 6°F | 15.7°F | 0.29 | 6.8 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 30°F | 9°F | 19.5°F | 0.50 | 8.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 43°F | 19°F | 31.1°F | 0.70 | 9.0 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 30°F | 43.0°F | 1.47 | 6.4 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 2.69 | 1.6 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 77°F | 51°F | 64.2°F | 2.84 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 56°F | 70.4°F | 2.36 | 0.0 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 84°F | 54°F | 69.3°F | 1.88 | 0.0 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 74°F | 45°F | 59.8°F | 1.47 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 33°F | 45.0°F | 1.44 | 4.1 | 6 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 19°F | 30.3°F | 0.57 | 7.3 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 30°F | 10°F | 19.5°F | 0.33 | 7.6 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 31°F | 43.5°F | 16.54 | 51.2 | 77 | 21 | 184 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −15°C | −9.1°C | 7 mm | 17 cm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −6.9°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 6°C | −7°C | −0.5°C | 18 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 37 mm | 16 cm |
| May | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 68 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 13°C | 21.3°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 12°C | 20.7°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 7°C | 15.4°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 0°C | 7.2°C | 37 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 5°C | −7°C | −0.9°C | 14 mm | 19 cm |
| December | −1°C | −12°C | −6.9°C | 8 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00327311; 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.
Which months are mildest at Pretty Rock?
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 (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 USC00327311.
When is the last frost at Pretty Rock?
In Pretty Rock, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 20 in half of years and after June 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 23 in half of years and before September 8 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 201 year in 10 after June 3; 9 in 10 after May 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 231 year in 10 before September 8; 9 in 10 before October 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 124 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 144 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 9 in half of springs and before October 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pretty Rock in zone 4a in ZIP code 58533, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00327311; 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 at Pretty Rock?
In a normal year in Pretty Rock, 21 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 184 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 77 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 184a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 70high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 77a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1964) is 111°F, on June 29, 2002; the lowest is −43°F, on February 19, 2025.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 29.54 in; the snowiest season is 1949–50, with 100.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00327311; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00327311. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Pretty Rock?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Pretty Rock, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 1.8 |
| February | 81% | 2.9 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 78% | 6.5 |
| July | 85% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.6 |
| September | 79% | 4.3 |
| October | 71% | 2.7 |
| November | 71% | 1.8 |
| December | 68% | 1.3 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Pretty Rock record?
A normal year at Pretty Rock brings 8,284 heating degree days, 54% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 487 cooling degree days, 46% 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 2,276 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,528 | 0 |
| February | 1,274 | 0 |
| March | 1,051 | 0 |
| April | 662 | 1 |
| May | 342 | 12 |
| June | 95 | 70 |
| July | 23 | 190 |
| August | 35 | 168 |
| September | 201 | 44 |
| October | 624 | 2 |
| November | 1,039 | 0 |
| December | 1,410 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,284 | 487 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00327311. 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.
Have recent years at Pretty Rock been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 44.3°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.5°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.9°F | +2.4°F | 16.05 | 20.7 |
| 2022 | 42.3°F | −1.2°F | 16.87 | 83.7 |
| 2023 | 44.1°F | +0.6°F | 19.85 | 59.3 |
| 2024 | 46.0°F | +2.5°F | 14.05 | 28.5 |
| 2025 | 44.3°F | +0.8°F | 20.91 | 36.9 |
Over 54 complete years from 1968 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.6°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00327311; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pretty Rock's climate compare?
Pretty Rock is warmer than 89 of the 92 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.5°F is warmer than 14%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pretty Rock is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Pretty Rock share this climate record?
2 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.
- New Leipzig, ND206 people · 15 mi N
- Morristown, SD44 people · 18 mi S
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 Pretty Rock's climate
What is the coldest month at Pretty Rock?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 56°F at night).
Does it snow at Pretty Rock?
Yes: 51 inches in a normal year, falling on 32 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (9.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Pretty Rock?
June, with 2.84 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.29 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pretty Rock in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pretty Rock in zone 4a in ZIP code 58533, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come at Pretty Rock?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 20; in one year in ten it comes after June 3. Waiting until June 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lemmon, SD22 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Carson, ND22 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Mott, ND26 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Heart Butte Dam, ND29 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made