North Dakota Climate
Top 5 Cities: Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot, and West Fargo
This month in numbers
April 2026 saw North Dakota experience an average temperature of 4.06°C, which was 1.2°C cooler than the 1961–1990 baseline, ranking as the 51st coolest April in 77 years of records. Globally, April was the 2nd warmest on record for land temperatures, with an anomaly of +1.1°C. The three-month period from February to April 2026 was significantly warmer, with an average temperature of -0.35°C, an anomaly of +2.5°C, making it the 14th warmest such period on record.
What changed
While April brought cooler temperatures to North Dakota, the broader seasonal trend for February to April indicates a considerably warmer period. North Dakota's April average temperature anomaly of -1.22°C made it the coolest region out of 234 tracked globally for the month. In contrast, the three-month anomaly of +2.48°C placed North Dakota 68th globally, with nine of the top ten warmest regions being US states, highlighting a striking concentration of warmth across the country.
What’s driving change?
The cooler April temperatures in North Dakota followed a significant snowstorm at the beginning of the month, which brought heavy, wet snow to many parts of the state, particularly in the south and east. Despite this, North Dakota is experiencing a prolonged spring fire season due to lower-than-average snowpack and well-below-average spring precipitation, especially in the western and northern areas. The Williston area, for example, recorded its 10th driest April on record. As of mid-May, 2% of North Dakota was under active drought conditions, with an additional 11% classified as abnormally dry, and the entire state has received below-average precipitation over the last 60 days. This contributes to increased fire risk, with four wildfire events occurring in May, representing 100% of the annual total for the past 12 months, an unusual concentration for the season. There have also been two drought events and one flood event in the past month, each representing 100% of their respective annual totals for North Dakota, indicating an unusual concentration of these events. More information on active extreme weather events can be found at Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
The ongoing dry conditions and delayed forage growth suggest that ranchers should review and update their grazing and drought plans for the coming months.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for North Dakota
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in North Dakota changing?
North Dakota is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for North Dakota come from?
Climate data for North Dakota comes from NOAA Climate at a Glance (temperature and precipitation), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the North Dakota climate data cover?
The North Dakota climate profile covers Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot and surrounding areas. North Dakota climate data from NOAA Climate at a Glance
How often is the North Dakota climate update refreshed?
The North Dakota climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.