Steele, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Steele's normal year runs from 1°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 21.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.3°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 28°C, 543 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSteele (4 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00328366
- Location46.89°N 99.95°W
- Elevation1,853 ft (565 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population655
On October 22, the normal high in Steele is 53°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Steele.
- Jan 21° 1°
- Feb 25° 6°
- Mar 38° 18°
- Apr 55° 29°
- May 67° 41°
- Jun 76° 52°
- Jul 82° 57°
- Aug 81° 55°
- Sep 72° 46°
- Oct 56° 32°
- Nov 39° 19°
- Dec 25° 8°
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 Steele each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 1°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.43 in), the least in February (0.61 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21°F | 1°F | 10.9°F | 0.63 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 25°F | 6°F | 15.2°F | 0.61 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 38°F | 18°F | 27.7°F | 0.95 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 29°F | 41.9°F | 1.41 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 2.81 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 76°F | 52°F | 63.9°F | 3.43 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 57°F | 69.4°F | 3.36 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 55°F | 67.8°F | 2.57 | 8 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 46°F | 58.8°F | 2.12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 32°F | 44.3°F | 1.81 | 7 | <1 | 16 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 19°F | 28.8°F | 0.86 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 25°F | 8°F | 16.3°F | 0.80 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 30°F | 41.6°F | 21.36 | 87 | 12 | 187 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −17°C | −11.7°C | 16 mm |
| February | −4°C | −15°C | −9.3°C | 15 mm |
| March | 3°C | −8°C | −2.4°C | 24 mm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 36 mm |
| May | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 71 mm |
| June | 24°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 87 mm |
| July | 28°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 85 mm |
| August | 27°C | 13°C | 19.9°C | 65 mm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 14.9°C | 54 mm |
| October | 13°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 46 mm |
| November | 4°C | −7°C | −1.8°C | 22 mm |
| December | −4°C | −14°C | −8.7°C | 20 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00328366; 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 Steele?
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 (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 USC00328366.
When is the last frost in Steele?
In Steele, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 15 in half of years and after May 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 12 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 151 year in 10 after May 28; 9 in 10 after May 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 12; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 133 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 151 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Steele in zone 4a in ZIP code 58482, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Steele's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (17 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 USC00328366; 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 Steele?
In a normal year in Steele, 12 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 187 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 187a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 88high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 121°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −50°F, on February 16, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 27.78 in; the snowiest season is 1969–70, with 103.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00328366; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00328366. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Steele?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Steele, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (84%) and November the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81% | 1.9 |
| February | 84% | 3.0 |
| March | 77% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.7 |
| June | 76% | 6.4 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.2 |
| October | 70% | 2.7 |
| November | 70% | 1.7 |
| December | 70% | 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 much heating and cooling does Steele need?
A normal year in Steele brings 8,895 heating degree days, 66% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 413 cooling degree days, 54% 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 2,150 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,675 | 0 |
| February | 1,394 | 0 |
| March | 1,155 | 0 |
| April | 692 | 0 |
| May | 343 | 13 |
| June | 99 | 66 |
| July | 24 | 159 |
| August | 46 | 135 |
| September | 226 | 40 |
| October | 645 | 2 |
| November | 1,085 | 0 |
| December | 1,511 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,895 | 413 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00328366. 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 Steele been warmer than normal lately?
Over 57 complete years from 1895 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.5°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Steele's climate compare?
Steele is warmer than 54 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 60. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.6°F is warmer than 9%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Steele 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 Steele 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.
- Dawson, ND75 people · 9 mi E
- Driscoll, ND52 people · 10 mi W
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 Steele's climate
What is the coldest month in Steele?
January, with a normal high of 21°F and a normal low of 1°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 57°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Steele?
June, with 3.43 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.61 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Steele in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Steele in zone 4a in ZIP code 58482, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Steele's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Steele?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 28. Waiting until May 28 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
- Moffit (3 mi SE), ND21 miles from this station, 43.6°F a year
- Jamestown (38 mi WSW), ND24 miles from this station, 40.3°F a year
- Streeter, ND27 miles from this station, 40.9°F a year
- Napoleon, ND28 miles from this station, 41.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made