#1Dickinson
Stark County · 25,870 peopleJanuary low·July high 83°·201 freezing nights a year
Dickinson, #1 on this list · Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0North Dakota rankings · Climate
Towns with the mildest winters in North Dakota
Dickinson has the mildest winters of North Dakota’s 24 towns of 2,500+: January nights average a low of 5° (NOAA 1991–2020 normals). The typical town here averages 1°; none of the 24 stay above freezing.
The average January low. NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020, from NOAA’s 5 km grid at each town’s center; one town for each grid cell. A described list: no letters. How grades work
#15°
Watford City
McKenzie County · 6,378 peopleJanuary low·July high 84°·194 freezing nights a year
Hay Creek Township
Burleigh County · 4,380 peopleJanuary low·July high 83°·181 freezing nights a year
All 24 towns
January low, highest first. Towns with the same figure share a rank (T = tied; 7 towns here).
24 towns ranked. Not here? See why a town may be missing.
#TownJanuary lowNights ≤32°July high
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Which North Dakota town has the mildest winters?
Dickinson (Stark County): January nights average a low of 5°. Watford City (4°) and Hay Creek Township (3°) follow.
How are these towns ranked?
By the average January low (the coldest month’s nights), highest first, on NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals, read from its 5 km grid at each town’s center. Towns with the same figure share a rank (T); the figure and the state rank are the ones on each town’s Climate page. How grades work.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers towns of 2,500+ residents, one for each of NOAA’s 5 km grid cells (24 in North Dakota): where towns share a cell, one of them stands for it, since the grid gives them the same figures. Every town’s own figures are on its Climate page. Every town is on the North Dakota page.
Go deeper
All North Dakota rankings →More North Dakota lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
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