Valley City, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Valley City's normal year runs from −2°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 21.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.7°C, January lows of −19°C, July highs of 27°C, 545 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationValley City (3 mi NNW)
- Station IDUSC00328937
- Location46.96°N 98.02°W
- Elevation1,210 ft (369 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population6,580
On October 23, the normal high in Valley City is 52°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Valley City.
- Jan 18° -2°
- Feb 23° 1°
- Mar 36° 14°
- Apr 53° 28°
- May 67° 41°
- Jun 76° 53°
- Jul 81° 57°
- Aug 80° 54°
- Sep 71° 45°
- Oct 56° 32°
- Nov 38° 18°
- Dec 24° 6°
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 Valley City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −2°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.59 in), the least in February (0.50 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°F | −2°F | 8.0°F | 0.52 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 23°F | 1°F | 12.2°F | 0.50 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 36°F | 14°F | 25.1°F | 0.81 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 28°F | 40.4°F | 1.22 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 41°F | 54.2°F | 3.21 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 76°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 3.59 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 81°F | 57°F | 69.1°F | 3.02 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 54°F | 67.1°F | 2.59 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 71°F | 45°F | 58.0°F | 2.73 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 32°F | 43.9°F | 1.91 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 18°F | 28.3°F | 0.69 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 24°F | 6°F | 14.9°F | 0.67 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 52°F | 29°F | 40.5°F | 21.46 | 78 | 10 | 192 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8°C | −19°C | −13.3°C | 13 mm |
| February | −5°C | −17°C | −11.0°C | 13 mm |
| March | 2°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 21 mm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 4.7°C | 31 mm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 12.3°C | 82 mm |
| June | 25°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 91 mm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 77 mm |
| August | 27°C | 12°C | 19.5°C | 66 mm |
| September | 22°C | 7°C | 14.4°C | 69 mm |
| October | 13°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 49 mm |
| November | 3°C | −8°C | −2.1°C | 18 mm |
| December | −4°C | −15°C | −9.5°C | 17 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 USC00328937; 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 Valley City?
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 USC00328937.
When is the last frost in Valley City?
In Valley City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 13 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 26 in half of years and before September 14 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 131 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 261 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 136 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 155 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Valley City in zone 4a in ZIP code 58072, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Valley City's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −31°F (19 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00328937; 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 Valley City?
In a normal year in Valley City, 10 days a year reach 90°F, 192 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 10a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 192a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 94high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 116°F, on July 6, 1936; the lowest is −44°F, on February 10, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1965, with 28.65 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 59.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00328937; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00328937. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Valley City?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Valley City, 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 Valley City need?
A normal year in Valley City brings 9,285 heating degree days, 73% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 399 cooling degree days, 56% 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 2,097 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,767 | 0 |
| February | 1,477 | 0 |
| March | 1,237 | 0 |
| April | 737 | 0 |
| May | 351 | 15 |
| June | 88 | 82 |
| July | 27 | 154 |
| August | 51 | 116 |
| September | 240 | 30 |
| October | 655 | 1 |
| November | 1,101 | 0 |
| December | 1,553 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,285 | 399 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00328937. 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.
How does Valley City's climate compare?
Valley City is warmer than 34 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 61. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.5°F is warmer than 6%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Valley City 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 Valley City share this climate record?
5 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.
- Tower City, ND276 people · 16 mi E
- Sanborn, ND162 people · 10 mi W
- Oriska, ND113 people · 11 mi E
- Rogers, ND57 people · 12 mi NW
- Leal, ND25 people · 17 mi NW
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 Valley City's climate
What is the coldest month in Valley City?
January, with a normal high of 18°F and a normal low of −2°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 57°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Valley City?
June, with 3.59 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Valley City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Valley City in zone 4a in ZIP code 58072, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Valley City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −31°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Valley City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 25. Waiting until May 25 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
- Colgate, ND26 miles from this station, 38.7°F a year
- Enderlin, ND30 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Jamestown, ND30 miles from this station, 41.3°F a year
- Cooperstown, ND31 miles from this station, 39.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made