North Dakota

Wells County, North Dakota Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Fessenden, 7 km from Wells County

The warmest month is August, with an average high of 81°F; the coldest is January, with an average low of 1°F. A normal year brings 17.3 in of precipitation and 33.5 in of snow.

Temperature through the year

The normal daily high and low and the record for every date at Harvey (5H4), since 1942. The line marks today.

Normal daily high and low temperature at Wells County through the year, in °F, with the record for each date.-50050100150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Normal low
  • Normal high
  • Record high
  • Record low

Normals for Sep 24

Normal high
68°F
Normal low
43°F
Record high
85°Fin 1992
Record low
26°Fin 1985
Chance of a wet day
12%
Daylight
12 h 04 min

Month by month

Averages for 1991-2020. Wet days have at least 0.01 inch of precipitation. Freeze nights have a low of 32°F or colder; degree days are on a 65°F base. Each month links to its own page.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRecord highRecord lowPrecipitationWet daysSnowfallFreeze nightsHeating DDCooling DD
January19°F1°F58°F (2012)-40°F (2009)0.37 in3.57.5 in30.91,7050
February24°F5°F61°F (1988)-41°F (1996)0.44 in3.55.2 in27.71,4150
March36°F17°F74°F (2007)-29°F (2003)0.46 in2.54.6 in28.41,1980
April54°F29°F91°F (1987)-7°F (2002)0.90 in3.81.8 in18.07090
May67°F42°F97°F (1980)16°F (2005)2.74 in7.30.1 in4.234513
June75°F53°F103°F (1988)34°F (1992)3.22 in7.70.0 in0.09964
July80°F57°F107°F (1988)40°F (1993)2.91 in6.00.0 in0.029136
August81°F54°F105°F (1983)32°F (1982)2.04 in5.40.0 in0.045117
September72°F46°F103°F (2015)23°F (2012)2.08 in4.00.0 in1.721932
October55°F33°F90°F (1992)-1°F (1991)1.08 in3.30.6 in15.36481
November36°F19°F78°F (1999)-22°F (2014)0.56 in2.14.5 in27.91,1280
December23°F6°F60°F (2015)-33°F (1989)0.47 in3.39.2 in30.91,5590
Year52°F30°F17.27 in5233.5 in1859,098364

Precipitation

Rain and melted snow together. The chance of a wet day is the share of days with at least 0.01 inch of precipitation.

17.3 in in a normal year, most in June.

Chance of a wet day

The chance of at least 0.01 inch of precipitation on each date at Wells County, in percent, and of at least 0.1 inch of snowfall.0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Chance of a wet day
  • Chance of snowfall

Snow

NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normals for Fessenden.

33.5 in of snow in a normal year.

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for Fessenden. A median date has an even chance of a later freeze in spring, or an earlier one in fall.

The last spring freeze typically comes around May 13 and the first fall freeze around September 28, a growing season of about 139 days.

Median at 36°F
last May 22, first September 20
Median at 32°F
last May 13, first September 28
Median at 28°F
last May 2, first October 6

Frost dates, growing season and degree days

Humidity and comfort

NASA POWER reanalysis, 1991-2020, for the grid cell around Wells County.

The muggiest month is July, when 6 percent of days are muggy or worse, with a mean dew point of 65°F or more.

MonthDew pointHumidityDryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable
January7°F90%100%0%0%0%0%0%
February11°F84%100%0%0%0%0%0%
March20°F73%100%0%0%0%0%0%
April28°F63%100%0%0%0%0%0%
May40°F62%94%5%1%0%0%0%
June51°F64%72%17%7%3%0%0%
July55°F61%50%29%15%5%1%0%
August53°F59%64%22%12%2%0%0%
September44°F62%91%7%2%1%0%0%
October32°F69%99%1%0%0%0%0%
November21°F78%100%0%0%0%0%0%
December12°F87%100%0%0%0%0%0%

Comfort is judged by the day's mean dew point: dry below 55°F, comfortable to 60°F, humid to 65°F, muggy to 70°F, oppressive to 75°F, miserable above.

Clouds

Average share of the sky covered, from satellite (CERES and GEWEX SRB) by way of NASA POWER, 1991-2020.

The clearest month is July, with the sky 50 percent covered on average; the cloudiest is March, at 66 percent.

Wind

The mean wind speed over the whole day, from the MERRA-2 reanalysis by way of NASA POWER. Gusts run well above it.

The windiest month is March, averaging 12.5 mph at 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground.

Daylight and sunshine

The longest day is Jun 16, with 15 h 59 min of daylight; the shortest is Dec 20, with 8 h 25 min.

Hours of daylight at Wells County through the year.0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Day length

Solar energy

Average daily sunshine reaching the ground on a flat surface, in kilowatt-hours per square meter, clouds included.

Sunrise and sunset calendar

How Wells County is running

NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, from the nClimGrid analysis of every station, updated early each month. A rank of 1 is the highest or lowest of all years since 1895.

August 2026 in Wells County: 1.73 in (-0.51 in against 1991-2020), the 59th driest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Wells County: 44.5°F (+2.1 °F against 1991-2020), the 16th warmest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Wells County: 9.21 in (-4.85 in against 1991-2020), the 12th driest in 132 years on record.

Wettest August
6.41 in in 1980
Driest August
0.40 in in 1933

Every year since 1895

Each year's average temperature in Wells County against the 1991-2020 average, in °F, 1895 to 2025.-10-50+5+101900192019401960198020002020NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance

North Dakota climate and rankings

Month pages

The weather in Wells County in each month, day by day.

What this means

A normal is the average of the thirty years 1991 to 2020, the period the World Meteorological Organization and NOAA use for comparison. It is an average, not a forecast: most days depart from it, and some by a long way.

A record is the highest or lowest value on the date in every year the station has reported, back to 1942. It rests on one station, so a neighbor a few miles away can hold different ones.

Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine come from a reanalysis: a weather model run over the past with every observation fed in, averaged over a grid cell about 50 km across. It is consistent everywhere on Earth; it smooths local detail such as a lake shore or a valley.

More for this place

Nearby

Sources

Normals: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020, station USC00322949 (Fessenden), public domain. Records: NOAA GHCN-Daily, station USC00324013, every year on file, quality-flagged values removed. Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine: NASA POWER (MERRA-2, CERES and GEWEX SRB), 1991-2020. The data was obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project funded through the NASA Earth Science Division: POWER Daily API v2, accessed 2026-09-25. Sun and moon: computed with the NOAA solar equations and Meeus. Rankings: NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, public domain.