Normal weather days by city › South Dakota
NOAA 1991-2020 normals · South Dakota
Normal weather delay days in Sioux Falls, SD
A normal year in Sioux Falls has about 53.1 rain days (0.10 in or more), 12.5 snow days and 162.1 freezing days. June has the most rain days and January the fewest.
These are NOAA's official 1991-2020 climate normals for SIOUX FALLS, SD US (NOAA station USW00014944, 2.6 miles from downtown). Contractors use them as the "normal" baseline for weather days in bids, schedules and weather-delay clauses.
Weather-day calculator
From the start of October to the end of March (6 months), a normal Sioux Falls schedule sees about:
days with 0.10 in or more of rain or melted snow
days with 0.50 in or more
days with 1 in or more of new snow
days with a low of 32°F or colder
days with a high of 90°F or hotter
These count calendar days. On a Monday to Friday schedule, about 5 in 7 of them fall on workdays (12.4 rain days). Real years vary a lot around the normal, which is why a day-by-day record of the actual weather matters when a delay is disputed.
Month by month
Average number of days per month, 1991-2020.
| Month | Rain days | Heavy rain days | Snow days | Freezing days | Hot days | Normal rain | Normal high / low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.8 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 30.8 | 0.0 | 0.60 in | 27° / 9° |
| February | 2.6 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 27.2 | 0.0 | 0.83 in | 32° / 13° |
| March | 3.7 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 24.6 | 0.0 | 1.60 in | 45° / 24° |
| April | 6.1 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 12.6 | 0.1 | 3.00 in | 59° / 36° |
| May | 7.1 | 2.8 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 3.86 in | 71° / 48° |
| June | 7.3 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 4.23 in | 81° / 59° |
| July | 5.3 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.5 | 3.25 in | 85° / 63° |
| August | 5.4 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 3.34 in | 83° / 61° |
| September | 4.6 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.73 in | 76° / 52° |
| October | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 10.0 | 0.1 | 2.36 in | 61° / 38° |
| November | 2.6 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 24.3 | 0.0 | 1.22 in | 45° / 25° |
| December | 2.3 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 30.4 | 0.0 | 0.83 in | 32° / 13° |
| Year | 53.1 | 17.1 | 12.5 | 162.1 | 15.0 | 27.9 in |
Using these numbers
- Contract first. Your contract decides which days count: the thresholds, the baseline, the notice you must give and whether the weather actually stopped work on the critical path. Some contracts name their own table of normal weather days; use that if yours does.
- Normals are averages. A wet June can easily bring twice the normal. Comparing what actually happened, day by day, with the normal is what supports a time extension request.
- One station. These numbers come from one official airport station. Rain can differ across town.
Keep a day-by-day weather record for your own job
AtmosDays records the weather at the nearest NOAA station for every day of your job, next to these normals, with your daily log and paperwork tied to each date. Download a clean PDF for the owner, the adjuster or the claim file.
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Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals for station USW00014944. A dash means NOAA publishes no value for that station.