Cost to Own
United States › South Dakota › Mellette County › Climate Station CEDAR BUTTE, SD US Distance 13.2 mi Normals 1991 to 2020
This weather has a price Keeping the median Mellette County home comfortable runs roughly $504 a year in heating and cooling alone. See where it lands in the monthly bill

30-year climate normals

Mellette County Climate and Weather Averages

Hottest month: July

89.6°

average daily high. The coldest month is January, averaging a low of 12.2°F.

Mellette County gets 20.41" of precipitation a year and 40" of snow, and 47% of it falls in May, Jun, Jul.

Temperature through the year

Each bar spans the average daily low to the average daily high for that month.

20° 40° 60° 80° JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
MonthAvg highAvg low PrecipSnow
January 35.1° 12.2° 0.46" 6.6"
February 38.6° 14.6° 0.60" 8.0"
March 49.6° 23.8° 0.88" 6.0"
April 59.2° 33.5° 2.37" 5.6"
May 69.9° 45.1° 3.44" 0.4"
June 80.6° 54.8° 3.46" 0.0"
July 89.6° 61.5° 2.62" 0.0"
August 88.2° 59.7° 2.17" 0.0"
September 79.5° 50.3° 1.63" 0.0"
October 63.5° 36.7° 1.79" 1.6"
November 48.8° 24.6° 0.55" 5.1"
December 37.5° 15.6° 0.44" 6.7"

Rainfall by month

Mellette County has a distinct wet season. 47% of the year's precipitation arrives in May, Jun, Jul.

January 0.46"
February 0.60"
March 0.88"
April 2.37"
May 3.44"
June 3.46"
July 2.62"
August 2.17"
September 1.63"
October 1.79"
November 0.55"
December 0.44"
Annual total 20.41"

What this climate costs you

Degree days measure how hard a building has to work to stay comfortable. They are the reason two identical houses have very different power bills, and they are the link between the weather here and what you pay every month.

Cooling degree days How much air conditioning the climate demands 916
Heating degree days How much heating the climate demands 6,763
Approximate annual cooling cost At 15.36¢/kWh, South Dakota average $141
Approximate annual electric heating cost Lower where heating is gas rather than electric $364

These are rough planning figures from degree days and the state electricity price, not a bill estimate. House size, insulation and fuel type move them a lot. See the full cost of owning a home in Mellette County, where electricity is one line of eight.

Common questions

What is the weather like in Mellette County?

Mellette County averages a high of 89.6°F in July and a low of 12.2°F in January. Annual precipitation is 20.41 inches, including 40 inches of snow.

When is the rainy season in Mellette County?

The wettest stretch is May, Jun, Jul, which accounts for 47% of the year's precipitation. That is a pronounced wet season rather than rain spread evenly through the year.

How hot does it get in Mellette County?

The average daily high in July, the hottest month, is 89.6°F. That drives 916 cooling degree days a year, which is what your air conditioning has to work against.

Does it snow in Mellette County?

Yes. Mellette County averages 40 inches of snow a year.

Sources

  • Temperature, precipitation and snowfall normals: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991 to 2020 Monthly Climate Normals, station CEDAR BUTTE, SD US (USC00391539), 13.2 miles from the county centroid.
  • Heating and cooling degree days: NOAA, same station and period.
  • Annual figures on this page are the sum of that station's twelve monthly normals. NOAA also publishes a separately-computed annual normal, which can differ from the monthly sum by a few percent; we use the monthly series because the month-by-month breakdown above has to come from it.
  • Electricity price: US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, South Dakota residential average.
  • Wet-season share is the wettest three consecutive months as a percentage of annual precipitation, calculated from the monthly normals.