Where’s the Hottest Spot in South Dakota Year Round?

When people think of South Dakota weather, blistering heat isn't usually the first thing that comes to mind. We are far more famous for blowing snow, howling plains winds, and sub-zero winter mornings. But two small towns hold state climate records that prove just how extreme (and fast-changing) South Dakota weather can truly get when summer settles in.

Here's a look at the hottest temperature ever recorded within the state's borders, along with the hottest year-round spot in the Mount Rushmore State.

120 Degrees in the Middle of Nowhere

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• The Statewide Record: Hottest single day in state history (120°F recorded on July 15, 2006).

• The Location: Usta, South Dakota (Perkins County).

• The Local Details: Usta is a tiny unincorporated community located roughly five hours west of Sioux Falls in northwestern South Dakota, sitting right near the border of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. It lies in one of the most sparsely populated stretches of the entire state, around 45 minutes south from the North Dakota border.

  Oddly enough, Usta sits roughly an hour's drive from McIntosh, South Dakota, the exact spot that holds the record for the state’s coldest temperature ever recorded (-58°F in February 1936). It's an incredible 178-degree temperature spread in almost the exact same corner of the state. Only a handful of states beat (or match) South Dakota's 178° range, with Montana leading the nation (187°)

The Warmest Spot 365 Days a Year

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• The Record: Highest annual average temperature in South Dakota (51.2°F year-round).

• The Location: Interior, South Dakota (Jackson County).

• The Local Details: A year-round average of 51.2 degrees might not sound like a heat-wave at first glance. However, when you factor in South Dakota’s brutal freeze from December through March, keeping an average above 50 degrees year-round makes Interior a pretty impressive outlier.

• The Location Perk: Interior sits directly outside the main entrance to Badlands National Park. While it’s roughly a four-hour drive west of the Sioux Empire metro, residents get front-row views of world-class rock formations along with slightly milder winters.