Vermillion, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Vermillion's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 28.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.3°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 711 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationVermillion (2 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00398622
- Location42.76°N 96.92°W
- Elevation1,137 ft (347 m)
- Population11,877
On October 23, the normal high in Vermillion is 61°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Vermillion.
- Jan 31° 10°
- Feb 36° 14°
- Mar 48° 25°
- Apr 62° 36°
- May 73° 48°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 86° 63°
- Aug 83° 61°
- Sep 78° 52°
- Oct 65° 39°
- Nov 48° 25°
- Dec 34° 15°
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 Vermillion each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.30 in), the least in January (0.53 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 10°F | 20.4°F | 0.53 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 36°F | 14°F | 25.0°F | 0.70 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 48°F | 25°F | 36.8°F | 1.42 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 36°F | 48.9°F | 3.09 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 48°F | 60.4°F | 3.96 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.7°F | 4.30 | 9 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 86°F | 63°F | 74.4°F | 3.61 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 83°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 2.88 | 7 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 78°F | 52°F | 64.9°F | 3.07 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 39°F | 51.6°F | 2.35 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 25°F | 36.7°F | 1.30 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 15°F | 24.3°F | 0.79 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 37°F | 48.8°F | 28.00 | 77 | 29 | 152 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.4°C | 13 mm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −3.9°C | 18 mm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.7°C | 36 mm |
| April | 17°C | 2°C | 9.4°C | 78 mm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 101 mm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.5°C | 109 mm |
| July | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 92 mm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 73 mm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.3°C | 78 mm |
| October | 18°C | 4°C | 10.9°C | 60 mm |
| November | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 33 mm |
| December | 1°C | −10°C | −4.3°C | 20 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Centerville (19 miles away), gets 31 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398622; 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 Vermillion?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00398622.
When is the last frost in Vermillion?
In Vermillion, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 20 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 31 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 171 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Vermillion in zone 5a in ZIP code 57069, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Vermillion's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00398622; 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 Vermillion?
In a normal year in Vermillion, 29 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 152 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 77 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 152a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 47high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 77a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 114°F, on July 17, 1936; the lowest is −38°F, on January 12, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 40.56 in; the snowiest season is 2000–01, with 69.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00398622; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00398622. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Vermillion?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Vermillion, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.1 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 80% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.1 |
| November | 75% | 2.2 |
| December | 69% | 1.6 |
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 Vermillion need?
A normal year in Vermillion brings 6,758 heating degree days, 26% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 904 cooling degree days, 0% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,160 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,384 | 0 |
| February | 1,118 | 0 |
| March | 875 | 1 |
| April | 490 | 9 |
| May | 201 | 58 |
| June | 27 | 197 |
| July | 6 | 295 |
| August | 12 | 229 |
| September | 104 | 102 |
| October | 430 | 13 |
| November | 849 | 0 |
| December | 1,262 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,758 | 904 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398622. 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 Vermillion been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.5°F, 2.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.8°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.0°F | +2.3°F | 23.28 |
| 2022 | 49.0°F | +0.3°F | 20.86 |
| 2025 | 51.5°F | +2.7°F | 30.25 |
Over 89 complete years from 1901 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00398622; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Vermillion's climate compare?
Vermillion is warmer than 93 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 90. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.8°F is warmer than 35%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Vermillion is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Vermillion share this climate record?
10 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.
- Elk Point, SD2,074 people · 13 mi SE
- Akron, IA1,545 people · 19 mi E
- Ponca, NE910 people · 17 mi SE
- Newcastle, NE273 people · 8 mi S
- Wynot, NE218 people · 13 mi W
- Burbank, SD159 people · 5 mi E
- Westfield, IA121 people · 16 mi E
- Martinsburg, NE78 people · 18 mi S
- Maskell, NE57 people · 6 mi SW
- Obert, NE20 people · 7 mi SW
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 Vermillion's climate
What is the coldest month in Vermillion?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Vermillion?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Vermillion's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Centerville (19 miles away), records 31 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Vermillion?
June, with 4.30 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.53 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Vermillion in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Vermillion in zone 5a in ZIP code 57069, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Vermillion's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Vermillion?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- South Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Centerville, SD19 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Hartington, NE20 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Yankton, SD24 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Concord, NE26 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made