Wessington Springs, South Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wessington Springs's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 25.7 inches of precipitation and 45 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 29°C, 652 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWessington Springs
- Station IDUSC00399070
- Location44.08°N 98.57°W
- Elevation1,715 ft (523 m)
- Population773
On October 23, the normal high in Wessington Springs is 55°F and the normal low 33°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 Wessington Springs.
- Jan 25° 7°
- Feb 30° 11°
- Mar 42° 22°
- Apr 56° 33°
- May 68° 46°
- Jun 78° 56°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 82° 59°
- Sep 74° 51°
- Oct 59° 37°
- Nov 43° 23°
- Dec 30° 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 Wessington Springs each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.85 in), the least in January (0.64 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 7°F | 16.2°F | 0.64 | 7.5 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 11°F | 20.4°F | 0.73 | 7.3 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 42°F | 22°F | 31.9°F | 1.29 | 6.4 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 33°F | 44.4°F | 3.02 | 8.2 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 46°F | 56.8°F | 3.67 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 56°F | 67.2°F | 3.85 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.0°F | 3.09 | 0.0 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 82°F | 59°F | 70.8°F | 2.90 | 0.0 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 51°F | 62.4°F | 2.73 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 37°F | 47.7°F | 2.09 | 1.7 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 43°F | 23°F | 33.2°F | 0.93 | 5.3 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 30°F | 12°F | 20.9°F | 0.72 | 8.1 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 35°F | 45.4°F | 25.66 | 44.5 | 84 | 23 | 154 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −14°C | −8.8°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| February | −1°C | −12°C | −6.4°C | 19 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 6°C | −6°C | −0.1°C | 33 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 77 mm | 21 cm |
| May | 20°C | 8°C | 13.8°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 16°C | 22.8°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 15°C | 21.6°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 53 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 6°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 24 mm | 13 cm |
| December | −1°C | −11°C | −6.2°C | 18 mm | 21 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00399070; 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 Wessington Springs?
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 USC00399070.
When is the last frost in Wessington Springs?
In Wessington Springs, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 26 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 21 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 157 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wessington Springs in zone 5a in ZIP code 57382, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wessington Springs's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 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 USC00399070; 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 Wessington Springs?
In a normal year in Wessington Springs, 23 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 154 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 154a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 66high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 111°F, on July 26, 1894; the lowest is −39°F, on February 9, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 41.36 in; the snowiest season is 2000–01, with 84.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00399070; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00399070. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wessington Springs?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wessington Springs, 4.1 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 | 78% | 2.0 |
| February | 80% | 3.0 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 79% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 3.0 |
| November | 74% | 2.0 |
| December | 70% | 1.5 |
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 Wessington Springs need?
A normal year in Wessington Springs brings 7,784 heating degree days, 45% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 688 cooling degree days, 24% 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 2,698 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,513 | 0 |
| February | 1,249 | 0 |
| March | 1,025 | 0 |
| April | 618 | 2 |
| May | 281 | 28 |
| June | 56 | 122 |
| July | 9 | 257 |
| August | 21 | 202 |
| September | 149 | 71 |
| October | 544 | 6 |
| November | 953 | 0 |
| December | 1,367 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,784 | 688 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00399070. 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 Wessington Springs been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.1°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.4°F | +3.0°F | 22.33 | 24.0 |
| 2022 | 45.2°F | −0.2°F | 19.05 | 34.9 |
| 2023 | 47.3°F | +1.9°F | 28.74 | 46.6 |
| 2024 | 48.0°F | +2.6°F | 22.92 | 31.5 |
| 2025 | 47.1°F | +1.7°F | 24.35 | 26.3 |
Over 53 complete years from 1962 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.2°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00399070; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wessington Springs's climate compare?
Wessington Springs is warmer than 43 of the other 99 places with their own NOAA record in South Dakota, and wetter than 71. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.4°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wessington Springs 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 Wessington Springs share this climate record?
2 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.
- Alpena, SD217 people · 12 mi NE
- Lane, SD47 people · 7 mi E
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 Wessington Springs's climate
What is the coldest month in Wessington Springs?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Wessington Springs?
Yes: 45 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (8.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wessington Springs?
June, with 3.85 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.64 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wessington Springs in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wessington Springs in zone 5a in ZIP code 57382, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wessington Springs's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Wessington Springs?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 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
- Gann Valley, SD20 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Forestburg, SD24 miles from this station, 45.5°F a year
- White Lake, SD27 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Huron, SD28 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made