Willow City, North Dakota climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Willow City's normal year runs from −6°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 18.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 3.1°C, January lows of −21°C, July highs of 27°C, 481 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWillow City
- Station IDUSC00329445
- Location48.61°N 100.29°W
- Elevation1,473 ft (449 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population148
On October 23, the normal high in Willow City is 49°F and the normal low 25°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Willow City.
- Jan 15° -6°
- Feb 20° -2°
- Mar 33° 11°
- Apr 52° 26°
- May 66° 37°
- Jun 75° 49°
- Jul 80° 53°
- Aug 80° 50°
- Sep 70° 40°
- Oct 54° 28°
- Nov 35° 14°
- Dec 21° 2°
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 Willow City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.82 in), the least in January (0.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°F | −6°F | 4.7°F | 0.46 | – | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 20°F | −2°F | 8.9°F | 0.50 | – | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 33°F | 11°F | 22.2°F | 0.77 | – | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 26°F | 38.7°F | 1.11 | – | <1 | 22 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 66°F | 37°F | 51.5°F | 2.61 | – | <1 | 9 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 75°F | 49°F | 61.7°F | 3.82 | – | 1 | <1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 80°F | 53°F | 66.7°F | 2.81 | – | 3 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 80°F | 50°F | 65.2°F | 2.43 | – | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| September | 70°F | 40°F | 55.2°F | 1.69 | – | 1 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 28°F | 40.9°F | 1.32 | – | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| November | 35°F | 14°F | 24.6°F | 0.79 | – | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 21°F | 2°F | 11.2°F | 0.64 | – | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 25°F | 37.6°F | 18.95 | – | 9 | 206 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −9°C | −21°C | −15.2°C | 12 mm |
| February | −7°C | −19°C | −12.8°C | 13 mm |
| March | 1°C | −12°C | −5.4°C | 20 mm |
| April | 11°C | −4°C | 3.7°C | 28 mm |
| May | 19°C | 3°C | 10.8°C | 66 mm |
| June | 24°C | 9°C | 16.5°C | 97 mm |
| July | 27°C | 12°C | 19.3°C | 71 mm |
| August | 27°C | 10°C | 18.4°C | 62 mm |
| September | 21°C | 5°C | 12.9°C | 43 mm |
| October | 12°C | −2°C | 4.9°C | 34 mm |
| November | 2°C | −10°C | −4.1°C | 20 mm |
| December | −6°C | −17°C | −11.6°C | 16 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Bottineau (17 miles away), gets 50 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00329445; 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 Willow City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September.
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 USC00329445.
When is the last frost in Willow City?
In Willow City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 21 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 20 in half of years and before September 5 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 211 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 201 year in 10 before September 5; 9 in 10 before October 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 119 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 135 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before September 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Willow City in zone 3b in ZIP code 58384, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Willow City's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −31°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Dakota · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00329445; 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 Willow City?
In a normal year in Willow City, 9 days a year reach 90°F and 206 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 206a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 104high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on July 11, 1936; the lowest is −54°F, on January 13, 1916.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 24.98 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 72.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00329445; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00329445. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Willow City?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Willow City, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (86%) and November the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 1.7 |
| February | 86% | 2.9 |
| March | 79% | 4.0 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.8 |
| June | 75% | 6.2 |
| July | 84% | 6.6 |
| August | 82% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.0 |
| October | 70% | 2.5 |
| November | 69% | 1.5 |
| December | 70% | 1.2 |
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 Willow City need?
A normal year in Willow City brings 10,184 heating degree days, 90% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 245 cooling degree days, 73% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,729 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,868 | 0 |
| February | 1,569 | 0 |
| March | 1,328 | 0 |
| April | 791 | 0 |
| May | 423 | 6 |
| June | 139 | 40 |
| July | 50 | 101 |
| August | 78 | 83 |
| September | 308 | 14 |
| October | 749 | 1 |
| November | 1,212 | 0 |
| December | 1,668 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 10,184 | 245 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00329445. 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 Willow City been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 35.4°F, 2.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 37.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35.4°F | −2.2°F | 16.69 |
Over 79 complete years from 1900 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00329445; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Willow City's climate compare?
Willow City is warmer than 4 of the other 91 places with their own NOAA record in North Dakota, and wetter than 35. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 37.6°F is warmer than 3%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Willow City is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Willow City 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.
- Overly, ND11 people · 8 mi NE
- Barton, ND0 people · 9 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 Willow City's climate
What is the coldest month in Willow City?
January, with a normal high of 15°F and a normal low of −6°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Willow City?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Willow City's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Bottineau (17 miles away), records 50 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Willow City?
June, with 3.82 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Willow City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Willow City in zone 3b in ZIP code 58384, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Willow City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −31°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Willow City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 21; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Dakota climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bottineau, ND17 miles from this station, 38.6°F a year
- Towner, ND17 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Upham, ND20 miles from this station, 39.5°F a year
- Rugby, ND22 miles from this station, 38.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made