Wasta, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wasta's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 17.6 inches of precipitation and 30 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.8°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 32°C, 448 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWasta
- Station IDUSC00398911
- Location44.07°N 102.45°W
- Elevation2,328 ft (710 m)
- Population63
On October 22, the normal high in Wasta is 60°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 15%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wasta.
- Jan 35° 9°
- Feb 39° 13°
- Mar 50° 22°
- Apr 60° 33°
- May 70° 44°
- Jun 80° 54°
- Jul 89° 60°
- Aug 88° 58°
- Sep 79° 47°
- Oct 63° 34°
- Nov 49° 21°
- Dec 37° 12°
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 Wasta each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.55 in), the least in January (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 9°F | 22.2°F | 0.28 | 3.8 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 39°F | 13°F | 25.8°F | 0.53 | 6.4 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 50°F | 22°F | 36.2°F | 0.87 | 5.5 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 33°F | 46.3°F | 1.90 | 3.7 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 44°F | 56.6°F | 3.55 | 0.1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 80°F | 54°F | 67.2°F | 2.73 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 60°F | 74.6°F | 2.32 | 0.0 | 7 | 14 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 88°F | 58°F | 73.2°F | 1.56 | 0.0 | 6 | 15 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 79°F | 47°F | 63.2°F | 1.19 | 0.0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 63°F | 34°F | 48.4°F | 1.76 | 1.1 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 21°F | 35.0°F | 0.64 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 37°F | 12°F | 24.6°F | 0.32 | 5.6 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 34°F | 47.8°F | 17.65 | 30.4 | 62 | 43 | 175 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −13°C | −5.4°C | 7 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 4°C | −11°C | −3.4°C | 13 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 10°C | −5°C | 2.3°C | 22 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 16°C | 0°C | 7.9°C | 48 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 21°C | 6°C | 13.7°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 12°C | 19.6°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 16°C | 23.7°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 14°C | 22.9°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 8°C | 17.3°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 1°C | 9.1°C | 45 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 9°C | −6°C | 1.7°C | 16 mm | 11 cm |
| December | 3°C | −11°C | −4.1°C | 8 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398911; 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 Wasta?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00398911.
When is the last frost in Wasta?
In Wasta, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 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 101 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after April 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 141 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 161 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 9 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wasta in zone 5a in ZIP code 57767, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wasta's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (25 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 South Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00398911; 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 Wasta?
In a normal year in Wasta, 43 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 175 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 62 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 43a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 175a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 42high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 62a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 11a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1949) is 111°F, on June 30, 2002; the lowest is −38°F, on February 1, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1982, with 28.16 in; the snowiest season is 1969–70, with 72.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00398911; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00398911. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wasta?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wasta, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.0 |
| February | 77% | 3.0 |
| March | 74% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 5.1 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 81% | 6.9 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.0 |
| September | 83% | 4.7 |
| October | 76% | 3.1 |
| November | 76% | 2.1 |
| December | 74% | 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 Wasta need?
A normal year in Wasta brings 7,065 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 819 cooling degree days, 10% 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 2,854 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,325 | 0 |
| February | 1,097 | 0 |
| March | 893 | 0 |
| April | 562 | 2 |
| May | 283 | 23 |
| June | 63 | 127 |
| July | 8 | 303 |
| August | 16 | 269 |
| September | 143 | 88 |
| October | 522 | 6 |
| November | 900 | 0 |
| December | 1,254 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,065 | 819 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398911. 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 Wasta been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.4°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.8°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 48.4°F | +0.6°F | 13.71 | 32.9 |
| 2023 | 49.2°F | +1.4°F | 18.77 | 25.0 |
| 2024 | 51.0°F | +3.2°F | 14.51 | 13.1 |
| 2025 | 49.4°F | +1.6°F | 18.12 | – |
Over 48 complete years from 1953 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00398911; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wasta's climate compare?
Wasta is warmer than 84 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 9. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.8°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wasta is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Wasta share this climate record?
Wall has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Wall, SD672 people · 11 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 Wasta's climate
What is the coldest month in Wasta?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Wasta?
Yes: 30 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wasta?
May, with 3.55 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wasta in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wasta in zone 5a in ZIP code 57767, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wasta's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Wasta?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; 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
- South Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Elm Springs (3 mi ESE), SD17 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Rapid City, SD30 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Cottonwood, SD30 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Plainview (6 mi SSW), SD33 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made