Home › Cities › United States › South Dakota › Brookings
Brookings, South Dakota climate
BSk Cold semi-arid
Brookings has a strongly seasonal cool-temperate climate (Cold semi-arid, Köppen BSk). The hottest month is July with an average daily high near 29°C, while the coldest is January averaging around −14°C at night. Precipitation totals about 423 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — September alone averages 92 mm while February barely receives 0 mm.
Temperature & precipitation
Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figuresClear vs cloudy days
Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day countsBrookings climate normals (1991–2020)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | −5 | −1 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 27 | 23 | 14 | 5 | −2 |
| Avg temp (°C) | −10 | −7 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 20 | 23 | 21 | 17 | 8 | 0 | −7 |
| Avg low (°C) | −14 | −12 | −5 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 3 | −4 | −11 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 74 | 74 | 77 | 47 | 92 | 9 | 18 | 7 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | −5 | −1 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 25 |
| Avg temp (°C) | −10 | −7 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 20 |
| Avg low (°C) | −14 | −12 | −5 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 74 | 74 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 29 | 27 | 23 | 14 | 5 | −2 |
| Avg temp (°C) | 23 | 21 | 17 | 8 | 0 | −7 |
| Avg low (°C) | 17 | 15 | 10 | 3 | −4 | −11 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 77 | 47 | 92 | 9 | 18 | 7 |
How often — frequency of weather events
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 0.5 | — | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | 16 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | 0.5 | 16 | 24 | 31 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 0.5 | — | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | 16 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 2 | — |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 12 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | — | — | 0.5 | 16 | 24 | 31 |
Sky & atmosphere
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 64 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 65 | 60 | 48 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 62 | 64 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 14 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 87 | 81 | 72 | 66 | 66 | 68 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 69 | 77 | 85 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 64 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 65 | 60 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 14 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 13 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 87 | 81 | 72 | 66 | 66 | 68 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.3 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 48 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 62 | 64 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 15 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 7 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 65 | 65 | 65 | 69 | 77 | 85 |
| Wind speed (m/s) | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
Methodology & sources
Temperature — modelled for this location from ERA5-Land reanalysis, a ~9 km global grid, because no long-record weather station is close enough to use.
Precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 2 years of daily observations at Brookings, a weather station, about 1 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.
Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.