Bonners Ferry, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bonners Ferry's normal year runs from 24°F December nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 21.1 inches of precipitation and 54 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.7°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 29°C, 535 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBonners Ferry
- Station IDUSC00101079
- Location48.69°N 116.31°W
- Elevation2,075 ft (633 m)
- Population2,788
On October 22, the normal high in Bonners Ferry is 53°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bonners Ferry.
- Jan 34° 24°
- Feb 39° 25°
- Mar 48° 30°
- Apr 59° 36°
- May 69° 43°
- Jun 75° 49°
- Jul 85° 53°
- Aug 85° 52°
- Sep 73° 45°
- Oct 56° 36°
- Nov 42° 30°
- Dec 33° 24°
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 Bonners Ferry each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in December (3.17 in), the least in August (0.53 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 24°F | 28.7°F | 2.63 | 15.0 | 13 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 39°F | 25°F | 31.6°F | 1.83 | 10.8 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 48°F | 30°F | 39.0°F | 2.01 | 3.7 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 36°F | 47.3°F | 1.26 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 69°F | 43°F | 56.3°F | 1.78 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 2 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 75°F | 49°F | 61.9°F | 1.92 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 85°F | 53°F | 69.0°F | 0.64 | 0.0 | 6 | 10 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 85°F | 52°F | 68.3°F | 0.53 | 0.0 | 4 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| September | 73°F | 45°F | 58.9°F | 1.02 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 36°F | 45.9°F | 1.73 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 50 min |
| November | 42°F | 30°F | 35.6°F | 2.55 | 6.4 | 13 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 10 min |
| December | 33°F | 24°F | 28.5°F | 3.17 | 17.3 | 13 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 37°F | 47.6°F | 21.07 | 53.8 | 114 | 21 | 147 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −5°C | −1.8°C | 67 mm | 38 cm |
| February | 4°C | −4°C | −0.2°C | 46 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 9°C | −1°C | 3.9°C | 51 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.5°C | 32 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 21°C | 6°C | 13.5°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 12°C | 20.6°C | 16 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 11°C | 20.2°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 7°C | 14.9°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 44 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 5°C | −1°C | 2.0°C | 65 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 1°C | −5°C | −1.9°C | 81 mm | 44 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00101079; 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 Bonners Ferry?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00101079.
When is the last frost in Bonners Ferry?
In Bonners Ferry, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 18 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
- April 301 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 186 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 10 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bonners Ferry in zone 6b in ZIP code 83847, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bonners Ferry's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −2°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Idaho · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00101079; 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 Bonners Ferry?
In a normal year in Bonners Ferry, 21 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 147 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 114 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 147a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 34high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 114a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 108°F, on June 30, 2021; the lowest is −33°F, on December 30, 1968.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2012, with 34.44 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 159.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00101079; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00101079. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bonners Ferry?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bonners Ferry, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (48%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 50% | 1.0 |
| February | 60% | 1.9 |
| March | 59% | 2.9 |
| April | 65% | 4.4 |
| May | 71% | 5.7 |
| June | 70% | 6.0 |
| July | 87% | 7.2 |
| August | 86% | 5.9 |
| September | 79% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.4 |
| November | 53% | 1.2 |
| December | 48% | 0.8 |
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 Bonners Ferry need?
A normal year in Bonners Ferry brings 6,674 heating degree days, 24% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 355 cooling degree days, 61% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,078 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,125 | 0 |
| February | 935 | 0 |
| March | 805 | 0 |
| April | 530 | 0 |
| May | 279 | 8 |
| June | 130 | 37 |
| July | 31 | 155 |
| August | 33 | 137 |
| September | 202 | 19 |
| October | 591 | 0 |
| November | 882 | 0 |
| December | 1,133 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,674 | 355 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00101079. 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 Bonners Ferry been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.7°F, 3.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.6°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.8°F | +1.2°F | 21.37 | 43.5 |
| 2022 | 46.6°F | −1.0°F | 23.99 | 98.1 |
| 2023 | 49.1°F | +1.5°F | 19.51 | 26.5 |
| 2025 | 50.7°F | +3.1°F | – | – |
Over 59 complete years from 1908 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.7°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00101079; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bonners Ferry's climate compare?
Bonners Ferry is warmer than 53 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.6°F is warmer than 30%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bonners Ferry is Dsb: continental, dry-summer, 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 Bonners Ferry 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.
- Moyie Springs, ID1,225 people · 6 mi NE
- Sylvanite, MT157 people · 20 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 Bonners Ferry's climate
What is the coldest month in Bonners Ferry?
December, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Bonners Ferry?
Yes: 54 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (17.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bonners Ferry?
December, with 3.17 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.53 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bonners Ferry in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bonners Ferry in zone 6b in ZIP code 83847, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bonners Ferry's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −2°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Bonners Ferry?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Porthill (1 mi SW), ID22 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Troy, MT24 miles from this station, 46.8°F a year
- Sandpoint, ID30 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Priest River Experiment Station, ID34 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made