Wagner, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wagner's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 26.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.9°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 31°C, 669 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWagner
- Station IDUSC00398767
- Location43.08°N 98.29°W
- Elevation1,430 ft (436 m)
- Population1,429
On October 22, the normal high in Wagner is 60°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wagner.
- Jan 32° 13°
- Feb 37° 16°
- Mar 49° 26°
- Apr 62° 36°
- May 73° 49°
- Jun 83° 59°
- Jul 88° 64°
- Aug 86° 62°
- Sep 78° 53°
- Oct 63° 40°
- Nov 48° 27°
- Dec 35° 17°
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 Wagner each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.79 in), the least in January (0.67 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 13°F | 22.5°F | 0.67 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 37°F | 16°F | 26.5°F | 0.97 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 49°F | 26°F | 37.5°F | 1.44 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 36°F | 48.9°F | 3.06 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 73°F | 49°F | 60.8°F | 3.75 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 83°F | 59°F | 71.0°F | 3.79 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 88°F | 64°F | 76.3°F | 2.63 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 86°F | 62°F | 73.9°F | 3.00 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 78°F | 53°F | 65.5°F | 2.95 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 40°F | 51.3°F | 2.38 | 6 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 27°F | 37.2°F | 0.90 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 17°F | 25.7°F | 0.78 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 38°F | 49.8°F | 26.32 | 80 | 34 | 150 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −11°C | −5.3°C | 17 mm |
| February | 3°C | −9°C | −3.1°C | 25 mm |
| March | 9°C | −3°C | 3.1°C | 37 mm |
| April | 16°C | 2°C | 9.4°C | 78 mm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.0°C | 95 mm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 96 mm |
| July | 31°C | 18°C | 24.6°C | 67 mm |
| August | 30°C | 17°C | 23.3°C | 76 mm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 75 mm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.7°C | 60 mm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 2.9°C | 23 mm |
| December | 1°C | −8°C | −3.5°C | 20 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Pickstown (12 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 USC00398767; 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 Wagner?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June 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 USC00398767.
When is the last frost in Wagner?
In Wagner, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 25 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
- April 291 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 182 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wagner in zone 5a in ZIP code 57380, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wagner's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (20 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 USC00398767; 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 Wagner?
In a normal year in Wagner, 34 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 150 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 150a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1916) is 115°F, on July 17, 1936; the lowest is −39°F, on December 29, 1917.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1946, with 36.55 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 82.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00398767; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00398767. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wagner?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wagner, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.6 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.7 |
| September | 81% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.1 |
| November | 74% | 2.1 |
| December | 70% | 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 Wagner need?
A normal year in Wagner brings 6,543 heating degree days, 22% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,025 cooling degree days, 13% more 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 3,301 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,319 | 0 |
| February | 1,078 | 0 |
| March | 851 | 0 |
| April | 488 | 6 |
| May | 187 | 56 |
| June | 24 | 204 |
| July | 2 | 352 |
| August | 8 | 283 |
| September | 96 | 112 |
| October | 435 | 11 |
| November | 836 | 0 |
| December | 1,220 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,543 | 1,025 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398767. 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 Wagner's climate compare?
Wagner is warmer than 97 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 79. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.8°F is warmer than 39%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wagner 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 Wagner 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.
- Dante, SD72 people · 6 mi SE
- Clearfield Colony, SD70 people · 9 mi NE
- Greenwood Colony, SD0 people · 11 mi NE
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 Wagner's climate
What is the coldest month in Wagner?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Wagner?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Wagner's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Pickstown (12 miles away), records 31 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Wagner?
June, with 3.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.67 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wagner in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wagner in zone 5a in ZIP code 57380, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wagner's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Wagner?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 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
- Pickstown, SD12 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Armour, SD16 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Lynch, NE20 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Tyndall, SD22 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made