Busby, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Busby's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 15.7 inches of precipitation and 52 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.2°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 31°C, 399 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBusby
- Station IDUSC00241297
- Location45.54°N 106.96°W
- Elevation3,430 ft (1,046 m)
- Population (census place)483
On October 22, the normal high in Busby is 57°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Busby.
- Jan 34° 9°
- Feb 37° 11°
- Mar 49° 21°
- Apr 59° 30°
- May 68° 39°
- Jun 78° 47°
- Jul 88° 53°
- Aug 88° 51°
- Sep 77° 41°
- Oct 61° 30°
- Nov 46° 19°
- Dec 36° 10°
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 Busby each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.71 in), the least in December (0.64 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 9°F | 21.3°F | 0.69 | 9.9 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 37°F | 11°F | 24.3°F | 0.71 | 9.7 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 49°F | 21°F | 35.3°F | 0.95 | 7.3 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 30°F | 44.1°F | 1.66 | 5.7 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 39°F | 53.4°F | 2.71 | 0.9 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 78°F | 47°F | 62.7°F | 2.11 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 88°F | 53°F | 70.6°F | 1.38 | 0.0 | 6 | 15 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 51°F | 69.1°F | 1.01 | 0.0 | 4 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 77°F | 41°F | 59.0°F | 1.58 | 0.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 61°F | 30°F | 45.4°F | 1.50 | 3.8 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 19°F | 32.6°F | 0.78 | 6.2 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 36°F | 10°F | 22.7°F | 0.64 | 8.6 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 30°F | 45.0°F | 15.72 | 52.3 | 81 | 38 | 193 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −13°C | −5.9°C | 18 mm | 25 cm |
| February | 3°C | −11°C | −4.3°C | 18 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 10°C | −6°C | 1.8°C | 24 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 15°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 42 mm | 14 cm |
| May | 20°C | 4°C | 11.9°C | 69 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 26°C | 8°C | 17.1°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 12°C | 21.4°C | 35 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 10°C | 20.6°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 5°C | 15.0°C | 40 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 16°C | −1°C | 7.4°C | 38 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 8°C | −7°C | 0.3°C | 20 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 2°C | −12°C | −5.2°C | 16 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241297; 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 Busby?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September 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 USC00241297.
When is the last frost in Busby?
In Busby, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 23 in half of years and after June 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 15 in half of years and before September 1 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 231 year in 10 after June 7; 9 in 10 after May 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 151 year in 10 before September 1; 9 in 10 before October 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 113 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 136 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 11 in half of springs and before September 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Busby in zone 5a in ZIP code 59016, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Busby's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (30 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 USC00241297; 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 Busby?
In a normal year in Busby, 38 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 193 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 81 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 193a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 40high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 81a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 21a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 109°F, on July 14, 2002; the lowest is −53°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 23.61 in; the snowiest season is 1919–20, with 120.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00241297; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00241297. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Busby?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Busby, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and April the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.8 |
| February | 77% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 70% | 4.9 |
| May | 72% | 5.9 |
| June | 80% | 6.9 |
| July | 89% | 7.3 |
| August | 86% | 6.1 |
| September | 81% | 4.6 |
| October | 73% | 2.9 |
| November | 73% | 1.9 |
| December | 70% | 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 Busby need?
A normal year in Busby brings 7,682 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 443 cooling degree days, 51% 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 2,154 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,355 | 0 |
| February | 1,139 | 0 |
| March | 919 | 0 |
| April | 627 | 0 |
| May | 363 | 5 |
| June | 119 | 50 |
| July | 22 | 196 |
| August | 34 | 160 |
| September | 211 | 31 |
| October | 608 | 1 |
| November | 972 | 0 |
| December | 1,313 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,682 | 443 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241297. 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 Busby been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.8°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.0°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.6°F | +1.6°F | 11.00 | 48.1 |
| 2022 | 43.8°F | −1.2°F | 13.86 | 73.8 |
| 2023 | 43.4°F | −1.6°F | 19.50 | 54.6 |
| 2025 | 45.8°F | +0.8°F | 19.18 | – |
Over 72 complete years from 1910 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00241297; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Busby's climate compare?
Busby is warmer than 92 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 89. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.0°F is warmer than 19%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Busby 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 Busby share this climate record?
3 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.
- Lame Deer, MT1,939 people · 18 mi E
- Muddy, MT641 people · 9 mi E
- Birney, MT81 people · 24 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 Busby's climate
What is the coldest month in Busby?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Busby?
Yes: 52 inches in a normal year, falling on 30 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Busby?
May, with 2.71 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.64 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Busby in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Busby in zone 5a in ZIP code 59016, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Busby's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −29°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Busby?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 23; in one year in ten it comes after June 7. Waiting until June 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hysham (25 mi SSE), MT29 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Colstrip, MT29 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Hardin, MT34 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Wyola, MT36 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made