Rolla, ND Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Rolla's primary NOAA station, ROLLA 1NE.
The climate verdict for Rolla
Winter sets the terms in Rolla, North Dakota. A pronounced 58.5°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 37°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 37°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 19.6"
- yearly precipitation total
- 129 days
- frost-free growing season
Rolla: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00327664 · Rolla, ND 37°F mean · 19.6" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 37°F
- RANK-COOL #137
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Embarrass
- PRCP-DRY 19.6"
- SWING-WIDE 59°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 10,496 HDD
- STN-1 USC00327664
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Embarrass, 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.
- Rolla (this station) 37°F
- Hot Gunflint Lake, MN 37°F
- Near Warroad, MN 37°F
- Near Babbitt, MN 37°F
- Cold Embarrass, MN 36°F
Rolla 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 · Rolla
Rolla: 14/100 · grade F
Rolla publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Rolla, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 19.6 in · 15.4 from 35 in | 46/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 129 days/year | 11/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 205 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 36.5°F · 31.0° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
Rolla · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Rolla is a continental Köppen climate: Dwb
Coldest-month mean 5.9°F and warmest-month mean 64.4°F place this station in continental, dry-winter, warm summer climates (Dwb). Class Dwb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-winter, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dwb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 64.4°F
- Coldest month
- 5.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Rolla sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Rolla's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 98%
- Among 6,861 stations, Rolla sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 73%
- Rolla's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 96%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Rolla is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Rolla compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Rolla's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°F (-9°C) | -3°F (-20°C) | 6°F (-14°C) | 0.4" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 19°F (-7°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 0.4" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 30°F (-1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 0.7" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 48°F (9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.1" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (17°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.9" | 6.1 | 0.1 |
| June | 70°F (21°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 3.7" | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| July | 75°F (24°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.3" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| August | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.7" | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| September | 65°F (18°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.7" | 2.0 | 0.1 |
| October | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.2" | 17.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 33°F (0°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.8" | 28.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 20°F (-7°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 11°F (-11°C) | 0.7" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 76°F around August 3, short of 90°F on every date, while 205 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -4°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 2, then returns to freezing around October 11, covering 205 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.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 21, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 24 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 83 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 2 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Rolla.
Where Rolla Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 205 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Rolla 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
6.1 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
6.1 days with precipitation
Rolla runs a summer-peaked wet season
50% of Rolla's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 3.7", on a wide 58.5°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, July, May, taking 51% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.4".
- Winter share: 7% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Rolla's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 83 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 19.6" between them, or roughly 0.24 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 20
50% probability date
Growing Season
129 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
10,496
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
156
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Rolla 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 (37°F here).
- Atlantic City, WY 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Brian Head, UT 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Hope, AK 37°F · 0.0°F off
- King Salmon, AK 37°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (19.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- San Francisco, CA 19.6" · 0.0" off
- Pierre, SD 19.6" · 0.0" off
- Amarillo, TX 19.7" · 0.0" off
- Benkelman, NE 19.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Rolla's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Rolla logs 10,496 heating degree days, more than twice its 156 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 58.5°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 129 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.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in this dry, high-range record. The gap is 58.5°F, so a single annual figure is especially lossy; the annual average is 37°f. Compare monthly temperature and precipitation together before drawing a seasonal conclusion about Rolla.
Rolla's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 19.6 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Rolla'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 Rolla, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Rolla's climate
How much rain does Rolla get? ▼
How cold does Rolla get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Rolla? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Rolla's primary station: ROLLA 1NE (USC00327664). 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 3867820). Match rule for Rolla: 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 Rolla 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.