Note: Precipitation data and historical records were supplemented with information from the National Weather Service.
A record-setting August capped off an exceptionally wet year in Britton, pushing 2025 into the top five wettest years on record and marking the single wettest month in the community’s climate history.
Britton recorded 33.92 inches of precipitation from Jan. 1 through the end of Dec., nearly 10 inches above the normal of 24.22 inches. That total currently ranks fourth wettest on record, with climate records for the station dating back to 1893.
The standout month was August, when 11.29 inches of rain fell in Britton. That total broke the previous record for the wettest month ever recorded at the station, surpassing June 2005’s 11.11 inches. The historic rainfall was part of a broader pattern across northeast South Dakota, where several locations reported over 20 inches of precipitation during the meteorological summer.
From June through August, Britton received 24.11 inches of rainfall, making it the wettest summer on record locally and contributing to widespread improvement or elimination of drought conditions across much of the state.
While summer delivered abundant moisture, the pattern shifted in the fall. Britton finished below normal for fall precipitation, recording 3.55 inches from September through November, compared to the normal 5.4 inches.
Snowfall also trended above average early in the season. Britton received 23 inches of snow so far this winter, about 7.5 inches above normal as it stands.
According to Kelly Serr of the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, meteorologists often use “water years,” which run from October 1 through September 30, to better reflect natural water cycles such as snow accumulation and melt. Using that measure, Britton recorded the fourth wettest water year on record in 2024–2025, with 34.15 inches of precipitation, a correction from earlier reports that listed it as second wettest.
The wettest water year on record was 1915–1916 with 39.75 inches, followed by 1998–1999 at 36.78 inches and 1985–1986 with 34.88 inches.
Despite the remarkable moisture totals, Serr noted that annual temperature averages did not show anything particularly unusual when viewed over the full year.
In sum, 2025 stands as a year defined by extreme late-summer rainfall, one that reshaped local records and firmly placed Britton among its wettest years in more than a century of climate history.
