Alberton, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Alberton's normal year runs from 19°F December nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 18.7 inches of precipitation and 49 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 474 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAlberton
- Station IDUSC00240075
- Location47.00°N 114.48°W
- Elevation3,060 ft (933 m)
- Population545
On October 22, the normal high in Alberton is 54°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 40%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Alberton.
- Jan 35° 18°
- Feb 40° 20°
- Mar 49° 25°
- Apr 58° 30°
- May 68° 38°
- Jun 75° 44°
- Jul 87° 49°
- Aug 87° 47°
- Sep 76° 40°
- Oct 58° 30°
- Nov 41° 24°
- Dec 33° 19°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Alberton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.19 in), the least in July (0.88 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 18°F | 26.3°F | 1.45 | 10.3 | 14 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 40°F | 20°F | 30.2°F | 1.50 | 11.1 | 13 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 49°F | 25°F | 36.7°F | 1.70 | 6.0 | 14 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 30°F | 44.2°F | 1.66 | 1.4 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 38°F | 52.7°F | 2.04 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 15 h |
| June | 75°F | 44°F | 59.7°F | 2.19 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 87°F | 49°F | 67.7°F | 0.88 | 0.0 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 47°F | 66.8°F | 0.91 | 0.0 | 6 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 76°F | 40°F | 57.6°F | 1.07 | 0.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 30°F | 44.1°F | 1.64 | 1.2 | 12 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 24°F | 32.6°F | 2.02 | 6.4 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 33°F | 19°F | 25.7°F | 1.60 | 12.8 | 14 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 32°F | 45.4°F | 18.66 | 49.4 | 137 | 33 | 183 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −8°C | −3.2°C | 37 mm | 26 cm |
| February | 5°C | −7°C | −1.0°C | 38 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 43 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 15°C | −1°C | 6.8°C | 42 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 20°C | 3°C | 11.5°C | 52 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 7°C | 15.4°C | 56 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 9°C | 19.8°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 8°C | 19.3°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 4°C | 14.2°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 42 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 5°C | −4°C | 0.3°C | 51 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 0°C | −7°C | −3.5°C | 41 mm | 33 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00240075; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Alberton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00240075.
When is the last frost in Alberton?
In Alberton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 18 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 7 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- May 181 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 7; 9 in 10 before October 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 126 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 153 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 3 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alberton in zone 5b in ZIP code 59820, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Alberton's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (19 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00240075; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Alberton?
In a normal year in Alberton, 33 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 183 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 137 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 33a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 183a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 137a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1958) is 105°F, on June 29, 2015; the lowest is −28°F, on January 11, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 23.04 in; the snowiest season is 2016–17, with 85.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00240075; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00240075. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Alberton?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Alberton, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (51%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.1 |
| February | 60% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.2 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 69% | 5.6 |
| June | 71% | 6.2 |
| July | 87% | 7.3 |
| August | 84% | 6.0 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 66% | 2.5 |
| November | 54% | 1.3 |
| December | 51% | 0.9 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Alberton need?
A normal year in Alberton brings 7,414 heating degree days, 38% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 282 cooling degree days, 69% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,814 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,200 | 0 |
| February | 976 | 0 |
| March | 877 | 0 |
| April | 623 | 0 |
| May | 384 | 3 |
| June | 187 | 28 |
| July | 44 | 129 |
| August | 50 | 107 |
| September | 236 | 15 |
| October | 648 | 0 |
| November | 974 | 0 |
| December | 1,217 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,414 | 282 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00240075. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Alberton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.7°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.5°F | +3.1°F | 19.34 | 57.7 |
| 2022 | 44.6°F | −0.8°F | 16.55 | 65.5 |
| 2023 | 46.4°F | +1.0°F | 15.49 | 36.2 |
| 2024 | 46.9°F | +1.5°F | 15.43 | 26.5 |
| 2025 | 47.7°F | +2.3°F | 20.15 | 46.3 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00240075. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Alberton's climate compare?
Alberton is warmer than 101 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 111. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.4°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Alberton is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Alberton share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Cyr, MT99 people · 5 mi W
- Huson, MT59 people · 7 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Alberton's climate
What is the coldest month in Alberton?
December, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Alberton?
Yes: 49 inches in a normal year, falling on 39 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (12.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Alberton?
June, with 2.19 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Alberton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Alberton in zone 5b in ZIP code 59820, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Alberton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Alberton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 18; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Missoula, MT19 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Superior, MT24 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- St. Ignatius, MT28 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- St. Regis, MT35 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made