Valley City, 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 Valley City's primary NOAA station, VALLEY CITY 3 NNW.
The climate verdict for Valley City
Winter sets the terms in Valley City, North Dakota. A pronounced 61.1°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 41°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.
- 41°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.5"
- yearly precipitation total
- 136 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Valley City: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00328937 · Valley City, ND 41°F mean · 21.5" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 41°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Max
- PRCP-DRY 21.5"
- SWING-WIDE 61°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,285 HDD
- STN-1 USC00328937
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Max, ND (+ 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.
- Valley City (this station) 41°F
- Hot Grand Forks Univ, ND 41°F
- Near Max, ND 41°F
- Cold Park Rapids, MN 40°F
- Near McHenry, ND 40°F
Valley City 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 · Valley City
Valley City: 21/100 · grade F
Valley City publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Valley City, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 21.5 in · 13.5 from 35 in | 52/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 193 calendar days | 18/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 136 days/year | 16/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.5°F · 27.0° from 67.5°F | 6/100 · F |
Valley City · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Valley City is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 8.0°F and warmest-month mean 69.1°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
- 69.1°F
- Coldest month
- 8.0°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 Valley City sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Valley City's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 94%
- Among 6,861 stations, Valley City sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- Valley City's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 98%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Valley City is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Valley City compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Valley City'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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F (-8°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 0.5" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 23°F (-5°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 0.5" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 36°F (2°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.8" | 29.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 1.2" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 3.2" | 4.9 | 0.5 |
| June | 76°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 3.6" | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.0" | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 2.6" | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| September | 71°F (22°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 2.7" | 3.4 | 1.2 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.9" | 17.0 | 0.1 |
| November | 38°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.7" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 24°F (-4°C) | 6°F (-15°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 0.7" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 24, short of 90°F on every date, while 193 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -3°F near January 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 25, then returns to freezing around October 16, covering 193 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 33% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 16 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 78 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 15 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 Valley City.
Where Valley City Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 193 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Valley City 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
4.8 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
Valley City runs a summer-peaked wet season
43% of Valley City'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 3.6", on a wide 61.1°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, July, taking 46% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.5".
- Winter share: 8% 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 Valley City's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 78 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 21.5" between them, or roughly 0.27 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 13
50% probability date
Growing Season
136 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,285
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
399
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ND closest to Valley City 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 (41°F here).
- Alta, WY 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Dubois, WY 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Ouzinkie, AK 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Sault Ste Marie, MI 41°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Madrid, NE 21.4" · 0.0" off
- King Salmon, AK 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Vallejo, CA 21.5" · 0.0" off
- Robert Lee, TX 21.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Valley City's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Valley City logs 9,285 heating degree days, more than twice its 399 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.1°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 136 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.
Valley City's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 61.1°F between them. The annual average is 41°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Valley City's 21.5 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 Valley City'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 Valley City, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Valley City'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 Valley City's primary station: VALLEY CITY 3 NNW (USC00328937). 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 3881180). Match rule for Valley City: 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 Valley City 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.