Steele is a city in and the county seat of Kidder County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 665 at the 2020 census. Steele is approximately 41 miles east of Bismarck, 60 miles west of Jamestown, and 154 miles west of Fargo.
History
Steele was platted in 1878 by Wilbur F. Steele, and named for him. The community got its start soon after the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Steele since 1880. The Kidder County Courthouse was built in 1883.
The high temperature was 121 degrees Fahrenheit in Steele, N.D. on July 6, 1936.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Climate
On July 6, 1936, the temperature in Steele soared to , the highest temperature ever recorded in the state of North Dakota. This event, during the 1936 North American heat wave, is even more remarkable because since 1948, the temperature has not exceeded . It was the highest temperature recorded so far north on the North American continent until June 29, 2021, when it was exceeded in Lytton, British Columbia by 0.3 °F (0.2 °C). A prolonged period of extreme drought across the entire Great Plains contributed to the extreme heat. Record high temperatures for 15 states fell that summer. In the United States, higher temperatures have been recorded in only four states: California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. (Kansas set its own 121 °F record on July 24.)
According to the averages, Steele has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm to hot summers and very cold winters, typical of the Great Plains. Though summer's highs average there are still 17–18 days on average of above . January nights average , and subzero temperatures happen on multiple occasions every winter.