When to paint a house exterior in Watertown, SD
When to paint in Watertown, SD
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is June to September, with 4 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 17 painting days. Book a painter by April.
If you want the house done in June to September, call for quotes in April or earlier; a job pushed past September is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- under 1Jan
- under 1Feb
- under 1Mar
- 1Apr
- 7May
- 12Jun
- 17Jul
- 17Aug
- 12Sep
- 3Oct
- under 1Nov
- under 1Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 7° / 24°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 7° / 27°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 2 | 22° / 41°F |
| April | 1 | under 1 | 6 | 32° / 55°F |
| May | 7 | 5 | 16 | 46° / 70°F |
| June | 12 | 8 | 15 | 58° / 82°F |
| July | 17 | 13 | 17 | 61° / 84°F |
| August | 17 | 14 | 19 | 59° / 80°F |
| September | 12 | 12 | 19 | 53° / 76°F |
| October | 3 | 3 | 12 | 37° / 58°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 3 | 24° / 43°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 13° / 30°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 41 days a year here.
Towns near Watertown compared
2 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Brookings (72 a year, 46 miles southeast); 4 get fewer, down to 47 a year. A gap like that between towns is usually elevation, a coast or a lake, which is why a painter from a few towns over can be on a different schedule.
| Place | From Watertown | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookings, SD | 46 mi southeast | 72 | June to September | Brookings Municipal Airport |
| Huron, SD | 64 mi southwest | 51 | July to August | Huron Regional Airport |
| Marshall, MN | 74 mi southeast | 72 | July to September | Sw Mn Rgnl Mrshl/Ryan Field A |
| Aberdeen, SD | 75 mi northwest | 47 | August | Aberdeen Regional Airport |
| Mitchell, SD | 93 mi southwest | 65 | July to September | Mitchell Municipal Airport |
| Brandon, SD | 95 mi south | 58 | July to August | Joe Foss Field Airport |
How Watertown ranks in SD
Of 14 SD places with 10,000 people or more, Watertown (population 23,492, 5th largest) ranks 4th for painting days, 10 days above the state median of 58. The longest season in the state is Yankton, 72 days, 140 miles south. The shortest is Spearfish at 37. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 41 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Watertown Municipal Airport (0.4 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.