Storm Lake, IA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Storm Lake's primary NOAA station, STORM LAKE.
The climate verdict for Storm Lake
Winter sets the terms in Storm Lake, Iowa. A pronounced 55.7°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 47°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 47°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 33.8"
- annual precipitation
- 171 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Storm Lake: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00137979 · Storm Lake, IA 47°F mean · 33.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,921
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Springview
- PRCP-MID 33.8"
- SWING-WIDE 56°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,230 HDD
- STN-1 USC00137979
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Springview, NE (+ 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 IA station list.
- Storm Lake (this station) 47°F
- Hot Gregory, SD 47°F
- Near Springview, NE 47°F
- Near Grundy Ctr, IA 47°F
- Near Mapleton, IA 47°F
Climate Living Index · Storm Lake
Storm Lake: 49/100 · grade D
Storm Lake publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Storm Lake, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 33.8 in · 1.3 from 35 in | 93/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 152 calendar days | 45/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 171 days/year | 43/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 47.1°F · 20.4° from 67.5°F | 28/100 · F |
Storm Lake · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Storm Lake is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 17.3°F and warmest-month mean 73.0°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 73.0°F
- Coldest month
- 17.3°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 Storm Lake sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Storm Lake's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 72%
- Among 6,861 stations, Storm Lake sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 46th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 93%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Storm Lake is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Storm Lake compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Storm Lake's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Storm Lake's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 91 complete annual observations from 1890 to 2025, STORM LAKE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.17°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Storm Lake primary station fitted change +0.17 °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 | 26°F (-3°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 0.8" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 30°F (-1°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 1.0" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.7" | 23.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (15°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 3.5" | 9.8 | 0.1 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.9" | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 5.3" | 0.0 | 2.4 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 3.8" | 0.0 | 4.3 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 4.4" | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 3.0" | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.4" | 7.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.8" | 21.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (0°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.1" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 8, short of 90°F on every date, while 152 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 2, then returns to freezing around November 3, covering 152 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.
The widest day
September 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 23°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Storm Lake.
Where Storm Lake Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 23°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Storm Lake 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
Storm Lake runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Storm Lake'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 5.3", on a wide 55.7°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, May, August, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.8".
- Winter share: 9% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
171 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,230
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
754
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside IA closest to Storm Lake 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 (47°F here).
- Auburn, MI 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Brigham City, UT 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Casper, WY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Durham, NH 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (33.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cumberland, WI 33.8" · 0.0" off
- Charlevoix, MI 33.7" · 0.0" off
- Merrill, WI 33.8" · 0.0" off
- Grantsburg, WI 33.8" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Storm Lake's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Storm Lake logs 7,230 heating degree days, more than twice its 754 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.7°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Storm Lake's frost-free season lasts about 171 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Storm Lake's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 55.7°F between them. The annual average is 47°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Storm Lake's 33.8 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 Storm Lake'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 Storm Lake, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Storm Lake's climate
How much rain does Storm Lake get? ▼
How cold does Storm Lake get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Storm Lake? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Storm Lake's primary station: STORM LAKE (USC00137979). 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 1975630). Match rule for Storm Lake: 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 Storm Lake 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.