Bigfork, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Bigfork's primary NOAA station, BIGFORK 13 S.
The climate verdict for Bigfork
Bigfork, Montana has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 47°F. Its climate comfort score of 64/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 49% of station-mapped location scores.
- 47°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 64/100
- comfort score, above 49% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.4"
- annual precipitation
- 167 days
- frost-free growing season
Bigfork: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00240755 · Bigfork, MT 47°F mean · 21.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,784
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Satus Pass
- PRCP-DRY 21.4"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-MID 64/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,877 HDD
- STN-1 USC00240755
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Satus Pass, WA (+ 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.
- Bigfork (this station) 47°F
- Cold Canaan Valley, WV 47°F
- Hot Norwood, CO 47°F
- Near Satus Pass, WA 47°F
- Near Lund, NV 47°F
Bigfork 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 · Bigfork
Bigfork: 44/100 · grade D
Bigfork publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Bigfork, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 64/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 130 calendar days | 59/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 21.4 in · 13.6 from 35 in | 52/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 167 days/year | 39/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.8°F · 20.7° from 67.5°F | 26/100 · F |
Bigfork · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Bigfork is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 29.6°F and warmest-month mean 67.6°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 67.6°F
- Coldest month
- 29.6°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 Bigfork sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Bigfork's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 74%
- Among 6,861 stations, Bigfork sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- Bigfork's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 73%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Bigfork is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Bigfork compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Bigfork's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
64 49th percentile score exceeds 49% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Bigfork's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 45 complete annual observations from 1942 to 2025, BIGFORK 13 S warmed at a fitted rate of 0.14°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Bigfork primary station fitted change +0.14 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 1.7" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.0" | 23.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.3" | 20.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.8" | 9.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 63°F (17°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.5" | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| June | 70°F (21°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 3.2" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| July | 80°F (27°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.3" | 0.1 | 2.8 |
| August | 79°F (26°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 1.1" | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 1.7" | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| October | 55°F (13°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 2.4" | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 42°F (5°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.7" | 17.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 1.6" | 25.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 130 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 24°F near December 27.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 24, then returns to freezing around November 16, covering 130 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 June 9, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 2 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 100 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 1 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Bigfork.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
9.9 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
11.1 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
Bigfork spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 26% of the annual total and December through February 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Bigfork has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 38°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 3.2" and February 1.0". The three wettest months together take 38% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Bigfork's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 100 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 21.4" between them, or roughly 0.21 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 15
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
167 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,877
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
249
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Bigfork 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 (47°F here).
- Chamberlain, SD 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Cody, WY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dakota City, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dodge, WI 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Roscoe, SD 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Robert Lee, TX 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Gage, OK 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Spearfish, SD 21.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Bigfork's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Bigfork's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,877 annual heating degree days against 249 for cooling. Its 38.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Bigfork's frost-free season lasts about 167 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Bigfork's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.0°F. The annual average is 47°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Bigfork's 21.4 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Bigfork's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Bigfork, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Bigfork's climate
How much rain does Bigfork get? ▼
How cold does Bigfork get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Bigfork? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Bigfork's primary station: BIGFORK 13 S (USC00240755). 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 3005875), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Bigfork: 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 Bigfork 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.