Steele, ND Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Steele's primary NOAA station, STEELE 4N.
The climate verdict for Steele
Winter sets the terms in Steele, North Dakota. A pronounced 58.5°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 42°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 42°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.4"
- yearly precipitation total
- 133 days
- frost-free growing season
Steele: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00328366 · Steele, ND 42°F mean · 21.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #549
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Walker
- PRCP-DRY 21.4"
- SWING-WIDE 59°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,895 HDD
- STN-1 USC00328366
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Walker, MN (+ 0 °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.
- Steele (this station) 42°F
- Cold Hebron, ND 42°F
- Hot Eureka, SD 42°F
- Near Walker, MN 42°F
- Near Castlewood, SD 42°F
Steele 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 · Steele
Steele: 22/100 · grade F
Steele publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Steele, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 21.4 in · 13.6 from 35 in | 52/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 189 calendar days | 20/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 133 days/year | 14/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 41.6°F · 25.9° from 67.5°F | 8/100 · F |
Steele · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Steele is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 10.9°F and warmest-month mean 69.4°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 69.4°F
- Coldest month
- 10.9°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 Steele sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Steele's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 92%
- Among 6,861 stations, Steele sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- Steele'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 Steele is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Steele compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Steele's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Steele's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 57 complete annual observations from 1895 to 2020, STEELE 4N warmed at a fitted rate of 0.19°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Steele primary station fitted change +0.19 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21°F (-6°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 0.6" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 25°F (-4°C) | 6°F (-15°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 0.6" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 38°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.9" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 55°F (13°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 1.4" | 18.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (20°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.8" | 4.6 | 0.3 |
| June | 76°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 3.4" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.4" | 0.0 | 4.2 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 2.1" | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.8" | 15.7 | 0.1 |
| November | 39°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.9" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 25°F (-4°C) | 8°F (-14°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 0.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 189 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 1°F near January 19.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 22, then returns to freezing around October 17, covering 189 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 14, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is February 5 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 86 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Steele.
Where Steele Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 189 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Steele 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
5.5 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
11.1 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
5.4 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
Steele runs a summer-peaked wet season
44% of Steele'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 3.4", 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 45% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.6".
- Winter share: 10% 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 Steele's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 87 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 21.4" between them, or roughly 0.25 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 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 15
50% probability date
Growing Season
133 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,895
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
413
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Steele 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 (42°F here).
- Cripple Creek, CO 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Greenland, MI 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Johnson, VT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Judith Gap, MT 42°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Chewelah, WA 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Laredo, TX 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Wallace, NE 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Orland, CA 21.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Steele's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Steele logs 8,895 heating degree days, more than twice its 413 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 133 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.
Steele's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 58.5°F between them. The annual average is 42°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Steele's 21.4 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Steele'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 Steele, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Steele's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Steele's primary station: STEELE 4N (USC00328366). 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 3875780). Match rule for Steele: 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 Steele 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.