White Lake, SD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from White Lake's primary NOAA station, WHITE LAKE.
The climate verdict for White Lake
Winter sets the terms in White Lake, South Dakota. A pronounced 56.2°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 46°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 46°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 23.9"
- annual precipitation · 38" snow
- 155 days
- frost-free days per growing season
White Lake: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00399232 · White Lake, SD 46°F mean · 23.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,578
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Miles City F Wi…
- PRCP-DRY 23.9"
- SWING-WIDE 56°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,584 HDD
- STN-1 USC00399232
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Miles City F Wiley Fld, MT (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every SD station list.
- White Lake (this station) 46°F
- Cold Hastings Dam, MN 46°F
- Hot Greybull S Big…, WY 46°F
- Near Miles City F Wi…, MT 46°F
- Near Cottonwood, SD 46°F
Climate Living Index · White Lake
White Lake: 34/100 · grade F
White Lake publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for White Lake, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 23.9 in · 11.1 from 35 in | 61/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 172 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 37.7 inches/year | 30/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 155 days/year | 29/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.1°F · 21.4° from 67.5°F | 24/100 · F |
White Lake · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
White Lake is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 17.7°F and warmest-month mean 73.9°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 73.9°F
- Coldest month
- 17.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where White Lake sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for White Lake's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 77%
- Among 6,861 stations, White Lake sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 33rd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 93%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for White Lake is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How White Lake compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
White Lake's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
White Lake's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 75 complete annual observations from 1922 to 2025, WHITE LAKE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.10°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- White Lake primary station fitted change +0.10 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F (-3°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.5" | 7.1" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.7" | 8.4" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 44°F (7°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 1.0" | 5.2" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.0" | 5.4" | 12.7 | 0.1 |
| May | 69°F (20°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.7 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| October | 60°F (15°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.9" | 0.8" | 10.1 | 0.2 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.7" | 3.7" | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (-1°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.6" | 7.1" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 19, short of 90°F on every date, while 172 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 13, then returns to freezing around October 25, covering 172 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 4, when 27% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 25 at 9%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 60 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for White Lake.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.1"
3.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.4"
3.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.2"
3.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.4"
7.0 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.7"
2.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.1"
3.1 days with precipitation
White Lake runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of White Lake's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is May at 3.7", on a wide 56.2°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: May, June, April, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 7% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
When it rains in White Lake, it arrives in quantity
23.9" of precipitation falls across only about 60 wet days here, averaging 0.40 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 60 a year, 17% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.40 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 8
- Fewest wet days
- November, about 3
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to White Lake
White Lake averages 37.7 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 15 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 37.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 15 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 16% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 5
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
155 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,584
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
743
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside SD closest to White Lake on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (46°F here).
- Burlington, WI 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Colstrip, MT 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Deaver, WY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Dushore, PA 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (23.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Homer, AK 23.9" · 0.0" off
- Paducah, TX 23.9" · 0.0" off
- Mayville, ND 23.9" · 0.0" off
- Bronte, TX 23.9" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define White Lake
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. White Lake logs 7,584 heating degree days, more than twice its 743 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.2°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
White Lake's frost-free season lasts about 155 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. White Lake coldest normal
January
Averaging 18°F (-8°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. White Lake typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. White Lake snow peak
February
White Lake averages 37.7 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about White Lake's climate
How much snow does White Lake get? ▼
How cold does White Lake get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in White Lake? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from White Lake's primary station: WHITE LAKE (USC00399232). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 4671180). Match rule for White Lake: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for White Lake comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.