Waubay, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Waubay's normal year runs from 4°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 22.5 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.7°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 28°C, 572 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWaubay National Wild Life
- Station IDUSC00398980
- Location45.42°N 97.33°W
- Elevation1,827 ft (557 m)
- From the center6 miles
- Population474
On October 14, the normal high in Waubay is 58°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Waubay.
- Jan 22° 4°
- Feb 26° 7°
- Mar 39° 19°
- Apr 54° 33°
- May 68° 47°
- Jun 77° 58°
- Jul 82° 62°
- Aug 81° 61°
- Sep 73° 52°
- Oct 57° 38°
- Nov 40° 24°
- Dec 27° 11°
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 Waubay each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 4°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.79 in), the least in February (0.54 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F | 4°F | 12.6°F | 0.60 | 6.6 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 26°F | 7°F | 16.7°F | 0.54 | 6.0 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 19°F | 29.0°F | 0.84 | 5.5 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 33°F | 43.4°F | 1.96 | 5.0 | 6 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 47°F | 57.1°F | 2.93 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 77°F | 58°F | 67.2°F | 3.69 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 82°F | 62°F | 72.0°F | 3.79 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 61°F | 70.6°F | 2.26 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 73°F | 52°F | 62.3°F | 2.39 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 38°F | 47.7°F | 2.17 | 1.2 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| November | 40°F | 24°F | 31.9°F | 0.69 | 5.0 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 27°F | 11°F | 18.5°F | 0.66 | 6.3 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 35°F | 44.1°F | 22.52 | 35.6 | 81 | 5 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −16°C | −10.8°C | 15 mm | 17 cm |
| February | −3°C | −14°C | −8.5°C | 14 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 4°C | −7°C | −1.7°C | 21 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.3°C | 50 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 13.9°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.6°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.2°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.4°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 16.8°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 55 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 4°C | −5°C | −0.1°C | 18 mm | 13 cm |
| December | −3°C | −12°C | −7.5°C | 17 mm | 16 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398980; 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 Waubay?
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 USC00398980.
When is the last frost in Waubay?
In Waubay, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 30 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 11 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 30; 9 in 10 before October 26
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 21 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Waubay in zone 4b in ZIP code 57273, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Waubay's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (23 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 USC00398980; 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 Waubay?
In a normal year in Waubay, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 83high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1952) is 105°F, on June 30, 1963; the lowest is −43°F, on February 9, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 30.69 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 75.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00398980; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00398980. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Waubay?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Waubay, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 1.9 |
| February | 82% | 3.0 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 71% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.3 |
| July | 83% | 6.6 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.2 |
| October | 70% | 2.7 |
| November | 70% | 1.8 |
| December | 65% | 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 Waubay need?
A normal year in Waubay brings 8,204 heating degree days, 53% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 621 cooling degree days, 32% 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 2,609 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,624 | 0 |
| February | 1,352 | 0 |
| March | 1,118 | 0 |
| April | 648 | 0 |
| May | 269 | 24 |
| June | 49 | 115 |
| July | 10 | 226 |
| August | 15 | 191 |
| September | 145 | 64 |
| October | 540 | 3 |
| November | 993 | 0 |
| December | 1,441 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,204 | 621 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00398980. 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 Waubay been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 44.6°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.1°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 42.0°F | −2.1°F | 17.95 | – |
| 2023 | 44.6°F | +0.5°F | – | – |
Over 49 complete years from 1956 to 2023, 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 USC00398980; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Waubay's climate compare?
Waubay is warmer than 26 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 48. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.1°F is warmer than 16%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Waubay 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 Waubay 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.
- Enemy Swim, SD291 people · 2 mi E
- Roslyn, SD180 people · 9 mi NW
- Grenville, SD45 people · 4 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 Waubay's climate
What is the coldest month in Waubay?
January, with a normal high of 22°F and a normal low of 4°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Waubay?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Waubay?
July, with 3.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.54 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Waubay in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Waubay in zone 4b in ZIP code 57273, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Waubay's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Waubay?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; 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
- Webster, SD11 miles from this station, 42.7°F a year
- Summit, SD16 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Roy Lake, SD21 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Wilmot, SD22 miles from this station, 43.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made