Upham, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Upham's normal year runs from −4°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 18.8 inches of precipitation and 49 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.2°C, January lows of −20°C, July highs of 27°C, 477 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationUpham (3 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00328913
- Location48.61°N 100.73°W
- Elevation1,425 ft (434 m)
- Population129
On October 23, the normal high in Upham is 50°F and the normal low 26°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Upham.
- Jan 17° -4°
- Feb 22° 0°
- Mar 35° 14°
- Apr 53° 29°
- May 67° 42°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 81° 57°
- Aug 80° 54°
- Sep 70° 43°
- Oct 54° 30°
- Nov 36° 16°
- Dec 22° 3°
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 Upham each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −4°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.21 in), the least in January (0.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°F | −4°F | 6.6°F | 0.56 | 8.7 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 22°F | 0°F | 11.1°F | 0.56 | 6.6 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 35°F | 14°F | 24.3°F | 0.77 | 7.0 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 29°F | 40.8°F | 1.05 | 4.4 | 6 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 67°F | 42°F | 54.2°F | 2.36 | 1.4 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 64.0°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 81°F | 57°F | 68.7°F | 2.77 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 80°F | 54°F | 67.0°F | 1.98 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| September | 70°F | 43°F | 56.8°F | 1.60 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 30°F | 42.0°F | 1.36 | 2.7 | 7 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| November | 36°F | 16°F | 25.7°F | 0.84 | 8.0 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 22°F | 3°F | 12.4°F | 0.71 | 10.6 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 51°F | 28°F | 39.5°F | 18.77 | 49.4 | 95 | 9 | 199 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −20°C | −14.1°C | 14 mm | 22 cm |
| February | −5°C | −18°C | −11.6°C | 14 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 2°C | −10°C | −4.3°C | 20 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 4.9°C | 27 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 12.3°C | 60 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 17.8°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 12°C | 19.4°C | 50 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 6°C | 13.8°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 35 mm | 7 cm |
| November | 2°C | −9°C | −3.5°C | 21 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −6°C | −16°C | −10.9°C | 18 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00328913; 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 Upham?
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 USC00328913.
When is the last frost in Upham?
In Upham, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 15 in half of years and after May 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 13 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 26; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 13; 9 in 10 before October 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 132 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 149 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Upham in zone 3b in ZIP code 58789, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Upham's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°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 USC00328913; 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 Upham?
In a normal year in Upham, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 199 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 95 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 199a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 98high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 95a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1945) is 108°F, on July 20, 1960; the lowest is −48°F, on February 1, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2000, with 26.07 in; the snowiest season is 1975–76, with 80.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00328913; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00328913. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Upham?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Upham, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (86%) and November the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 1.7 |
| February | 86% | 2.9 |
| March | 79% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.0 |
| October | 70% | 2.5 |
| November | 69% | 1.5 |
| December | 70% | 1.2 |
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 Upham need?
A normal year in Upham brings 9,635 heating degree days, 79% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 369 cooling degree days, 59% 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 2,028 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,812 | 0 |
| February | 1,508 | 0 |
| March | 1,262 | 0 |
| April | 725 | 1 |
| May | 349 | 14 |
| June | 101 | 69 |
| July | 31 | 144 |
| August | 56 | 118 |
| September | 269 | 23 |
| October | 716 | 1 |
| November | 1,179 | 0 |
| December | 1,629 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,635 | 369 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00328913. 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 Upham been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 41.8°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 39.5°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41.8°F | +2.3°F | 13.15 | – |
Over 57 complete years from 1950 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00328913; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Upham's climate compare?
Upham is warmer than 22 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 34. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 39.5°F is warmer than 5%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Upham 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 Upham share this climate record?
3 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.
- Newburg, ND94 people · 11 mi NW
- Kramer, ND24 people · 5 mi N
- Bantry, ND5 people · 10 mi SE
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 Upham's climate
What is the coldest month in Upham?
January, with a normal high of 17°F and a normal low of −4°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Upham?
Yes: 49 inches in a normal year, falling on 35 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (10.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Upham?
June, with 4.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Upham in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Upham in zone 3b in ZIP code 58789, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Upham's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Upham?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 26. Waiting until May 26 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
- Bottineau, ND19 miles from this station, 38.6°F a year
- Willow City, ND20 miles from this station, 37.6°F a year
- Towner, ND23 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Westhope, ND24 miles from this station, 40.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made