What Thanksgiving Weather in Sioux Falls Is Really Like

Coming at the end of November, you'd think that Thanksgiving in Sioux Falls would be a winter wonderland. While it's not exactly a warm July day, it's often a surprisingly dry and mild day.

That's good for a holiday where travel is so important to celebrating. Thanksgiving is about getting together with your family and friends, so someone is likely driving somewhere.

READ MORE: Thanksgiving Gone Wrong: Hilarious Stories from Sioux Falls Families

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On average, Sioux Falls has a Thanksgiving Day high temperature of 37 degrees and a low of 19 degrees.
Looking at the historical weather data from our friends at the Sioux Falls office of the National Weather Service, we can see that our Thanksgiving can be a very cold single-digit day, sometimes with snow, or a nearly spring day with highs in the 60s. Oh, and everywhere in between those extremes.

The Warmest Thanksgiving Days on Record

In 1914, Sioux Falls could have had a Thanksgiving picnic. That day, the high temperature was 67 degrees. In 2011, we hit 65. In 1998 and 2018, we climbed to 62.

When Thanksgiving Froze Sioux Falls

The coldest high temperature recorded on Thanksgiving in Sioux Falls was in 1985, when it only got up to 3 degrees. In 1905, Sioux Falls woke up on Thanksgiving morning to the coldest temperature ever recorded for the holiday, an early morning low of 9 below zero. In 2014, we started the day at -7.

Snowiest Thanksgivings in Sioux Falls History

Surprisingly, Sioux Falls usually has a dry Turkey Day. Since 1893 only 35% of Thanksgiving Days in Sioux Falls had snowfall. It's been since 2015 that we had more than a trace of snowfall on the holiday. That day we got nearly an inch and a half of snow.

The most snow that's ever fallen on Sioux Falls on Thanksgiving Day was in 1940, when five inches fell. In 1979, 4.4 inches fell. In 1893, we got three inches, then 100 years later, we had 3.9 inches of snow on Thanksgiving.

Just because snow doesn't fall ON Thanksgiving Day doesn't mean we didn't have snow on the ground already. In 1979, we went into the holiday with 11 inches of snow. In 1975 and 2000, we had eight inches on the ground.

It looks like Thanksgiving weather in Sioux Falls is much like the weather the rest of the year, unpredictable.