Big Timber, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Big Timber's normal year runs from 20°F December nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 16.9 inches of precipitation and 55 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 430 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBig Timber
- Station IDUSC00240780
- Location45.83°N 109.95°W
- Elevation4,100 ft (1,250 m)
- Population1,681
On October 12, the normal high in Big Timber is 61°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Big Timber.
- Jan 38° 20°
- Feb 40° 20°
- Mar 49° 26°
- Apr 57° 32°
- May 67° 40°
- Jun 76° 48°
- Jul 86° 54°
- Aug 85° 51°
- Sep 74° 43°
- Oct 59° 34°
- Nov 46° 26°
- Dec 37° 20°
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 Big Timber each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.06 in), the least in February (0.65 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 20°F | 28.8°F | 0.73 | 7.1 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 9 h |
| February | 40°F | 20°F | 29.8°F | 0.65 | 10.8 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 49°F | 26°F | 37.7°F | 0.98 | 9.1 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 32°F | 44.6°F | 2.18 | 3.6 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 40°F | 53.4°F | 3.06 | 0.6 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 48°F | 61.9°F | 2.63 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 54°F | 69.8°F | 1.38 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 51°F | 68.1°F | 0.99 | 0.0 | 5 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 74°F | 43°F | 58.8°F | 1.31 | 0.5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 34°F | 46.7°F | 1.51 | 4.8 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 26°F | 35.9°F | 0.78 | 7.9 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 37°F | 20°F | 28.4°F | 0.73 | 10.2 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 35°F | 47.0°F | 16.93 | 54.6 | 82 | 27 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −7°C | −1.8°C | 19 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.2°C | 17 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 10°C | −3°C | 3.2°C | 25 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.0°C | 55 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 78 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 24°C | 9°C | 16.6°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 12°C | 21.0°C | 35 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 11°C | 20.1°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 6°C | 14.9°C | 33 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 15°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 38 mm | 12 cm |
| November | 8°C | −3°C | 2.2°C | 20 mm | 20 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −2.0°C | 19 mm | 26 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00240780; 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 Big Timber?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00240780.
When is the last frost in Big Timber?
In Big Timber, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 14 in half of years and after May 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 26 in half of years and before September 10 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 141 year in 10 after May 27; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 261 year in 10 before September 10; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 133 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 156 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 2 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Big Timber in zone 5a in ZIP code 59011, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Big Timber's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (20 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 USC00240780; 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 Big Timber?
In a normal year in Big Timber, 27 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 31high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 110°F, on July 21, 1931; the lowest is −38°F, on December 31, 1923.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1957, with 25.71 in; the snowiest season is 2017–18, with 124.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00240780; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00240780. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Big Timber?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Big Timber, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and April the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.9 |
| February | 76% | 2.8 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 66% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.7 |
| June | 77% | 6.7 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 84% | 6.0 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 72% | 2.9 |
| November | 70% | 1.9 |
| December | 67% | 1.4 |
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 Big Timber need?
A normal year in Big Timber brings 6,910 heating degree days, 29% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 374 cooling degree days, 59% 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 2,118 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,122 | 0 |
| February | 985 | 0 |
| March | 848 | 0 |
| April | 612 | 0 |
| May | 364 | 5 |
| June | 134 | 39 |
| July | 21 | 171 |
| August | 38 | 134 |
| September | 210 | 23 |
| October | 569 | 2 |
| November | 872 | 0 |
| December | 1,136 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,910 | 374 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00240780. 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 Big Timber been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.8°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.3°F | +1.3°F | 10.26 | 72.2 |
| 2022 | 46.7°F | −0.3°F | 13.06 | 63.0 |
| 2023 | 47.6°F | +0.6°F | 21.79 | 77.5 |
| 2024 | 48.7°F | +1.7°F | 14.07 | 62.5 |
| 2025 | 47.8°F | +0.8°F | 22.79 | 77.0 |
Over 95 complete years from 1896 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00240780; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Big Timber's climate compare?
Big Timber is warmer than 128 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 104. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.0°F is warmer than 28%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Big Timber 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 Big Timber share this climate record?
Greycliff has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Greycliff, MT94 people · 10 mi SE
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 Big Timber's climate
What is the coldest month in Big Timber?
December, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Big Timber?
Yes: 55 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (10.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Big Timber?
May, with 3.06 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.65 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Big Timber in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Big Timber in zone 5a in ZIP code 59011, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Big Timber's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Big Timber?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 14; in one year in ten it comes after May 27. Waiting until May 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Melville (4 mi W), MT19 miles from this station, 40.4°F a year
- Livingston, MT25 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Gibson (2 mi NE), MT26 miles from this station, 43.8°F a year
- Nye, MT29 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made