Alder, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Alder's primary NOAA station, ALDER 17 S - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Alder
Dryness leads the climate profile for Alder, Montana, with 14.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 43°F. At 34/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 2% of scores.
- 43°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 14.1"
- annual precipitation · 57" snow
- 100 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Alder: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00240110 · Alder, MT 43°F mean · 14.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #686
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Peru
- PRCP-DRY 14.1"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,319 HDD
- STN-MULTI USC00240110
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Peru, VT (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MT station list.
- Alder (this station) 43°F
- Hot Glen, MT 43°F
- Near Peru, VT 43°F
- Cold May, ID 42°F
- Near Ruth, NV 42°F
Alder sits in Montana, the #6 coldest U.S. state at 43.4°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Alder
Alder: 13/100 · grade F
Alder publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Alder, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 14.1 in · 20.9 from 35 in | 25/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 57.2 inches/year | 17/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.5°F · 25.0° from 67.5°F | 11/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 205 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 100 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Alder · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Alder's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 64.2°F
- Coldest month
- 23.6°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Alder sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Alder's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 90%
- Among 6,861 stations, Alder sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 85%
- Alder's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 38th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Alder compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Alder's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
34 2nd percentile score exceeds 2% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.3" | 8.2" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 7.5" | 26.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.6" | 8.4" | 26.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 52°F (11°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.3" | 9.7" | 21.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 2.4" | 3.6" | 8.8 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (21°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.0" | 0.1" | 1.7 | 0.1 |
| July | 80°F (27°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.2" | 0.2" | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 55°F (13°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.3" | 3.1" | 18.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 42°F (5°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 0.6" | 8.0" | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 33°F (1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 8.4" | 29.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 205 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near December 17.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 3, then returns to freezing around October 12, covering 205 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 28, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 20 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 81 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 34°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Alder.
Where Alder Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 205 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Alder earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.2"
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.4"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.7"
9.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.6"
11.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
10.5 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.1"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
5.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.4"
4.7 days with precipitation
Alder runs a summer-peaked wet season
38% of Alder's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 3.0", on a 40.6°F seasonal spread. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, October, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.3".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Alder is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 81 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 22% of the calendar, and they carry 14.1" between them. At roughly 0.17 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is May at about 12 wet days; the driest is February at about 5.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Alder
Alder averages 57.2 inches of snowfall a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 33 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 57.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 33 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 41% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
100 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,319
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
130
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Alder on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (43°F here).
- Alexandria, MN 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Berlin, NH 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Copper Harbor, MI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Edgeley, ND 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (14.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Condon, OR 14.1" · 0.0" off
- Culver City, CA 14.1" · 0.0" off
- Lemon Cove, CA 14.1" · 0.0" off
- Maxwell, NM 14.1" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Alder
heating led · dry · mid swing
Alder's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,319 annual heating degree days against 130 for cooling. Its 40.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 100 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Alder coldest normal
December
Averaging 24°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Alder typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Alder snow peak
April
Alder averages 57.2 inches of snow a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Alder's climate
How much snow does Alder get? ▼
How cold does Alder get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Alder? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Alder's primary station: ALDER 17 S (USC00240110). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Alder area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as a census-designated place (GEOID 3000850), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Alder: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Alder comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.