Cascade, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cascade's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 16.9 inches of precipitation and 67 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 429 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCascade (5 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00241552
- Location47.22°N 111.71°W
- Elevation3,360 ft (1,024 m)
- Population579
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cascade.
- Jan 39° 19°
- Feb 40° 19°
- Mar 49° 25°
- Apr 58° 33°
- May 67° 40°
- Jun 75° 47°
- Jul 86° 52°
- Aug 85° 50°
- Sep 74° 44°
- Oct 60° 36°
- Nov 47° 27°
- Dec 38° 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 Cascade each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.98 in), the least in January (0.54 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 19°F | 28.8°F | 0.54 | 10.6 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 40°F | 19°F | 29.5°F | 0.69 | 10.5 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 49°F | 25°F | 37.2°F | 0.80 | 9.2 | 7 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 33°F | 45.4°F | 2.23 | 9.9 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 40°F | 53.6°F | 2.98 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 15 h |
| June | 75°F | 47°F | 61.1°F | 2.90 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 86°F | 52°F | 68.7°F | 1.17 | 0.0 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 50°F | 67.4°F | 1.17 | 0.2 | 6 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 74°F | 44°F | 58.9°F | 1.63 | 0.3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 36°F | 47.7°F | 1.37 | 4.6 | 6 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 47°F | 27°F | 36.9°F | 0.71 | 9.8 | 5 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 38°F | 20°F | 29.1°F | 0.69 | 10.5 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 34°F | 47.0°F | 16.88 | 66.8 | 80 | 26 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −7°C | −1.8°C | 14 mm | 27 cm |
| February | 5°C | −7°C | −1.4°C | 18 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 10°C | −4°C | 2.9°C | 20 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.4°C | 57 mm | 25 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 12.0°C | 76 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 24°C | 9°C | 16.2°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 11°C | 20.4°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 10°C | 19.7°C | 30 mm | 1 cm |
| September | 24°C | 6°C | 14.9°C | 41 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 8.7°C | 35 mm | 12 cm |
| November | 8°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 18 mm | 25 cm |
| December | 3°C | −7°C | −1.6°C | 18 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241552; 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 Cascade?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August 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 USC00241552.
When is the last frost in Cascade?
In Cascade, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 21 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 19 in half of years and before September 2 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 211 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 191 year in 10 before September 2; 9 in 10 before October 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 120 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 145 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 7 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cascade in zone 4a in ZIP code 59485, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00241552; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Cascade?
In a normal year in Cascade, 26 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 32high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 23a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1904) is 109°F, on August 12, 1940; the lowest is −37°F, on November 13, 1959.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 26.43 in; the snowiest season is 2008–09, with 111.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00241552; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00241552. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cascade?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cascade, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 1.5 |
| February | 73% | 2.5 |
| March | 71% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.6 |
| July | 87% | 7.2 |
| August | 85% | 5.9 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 2.7 |
| November | 68% | 1.6 |
| December | 66% | 1.2 |
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 Cascade need?
A normal year in Cascade brings 6,863 heating degree days, 28% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 337 cooling degree days, 63% 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 2,088 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,122 | 0 |
| February | 995 | 0 |
| March | 862 | 0 |
| April | 590 | 0 |
| May | 358 | 4 |
| June | 148 | 30 |
| July | 32 | 147 |
| August | 48 | 123 |
| September | 212 | 29 |
| October | 538 | 4 |
| November | 845 | 0 |
| December | 1,113 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,863 | 337 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241552. 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.
How does Cascade's climate compare?
Cascade is warmer than 128 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 103. 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, Cascade is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Cascade share this climate record?
Hardy 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.
- Hardy, MT65 people · 6 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Cascade's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Cascade. This page uses Cascade (5 mi S); the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade (20 mi SSE) USC00241557 | 17 mi S | 4,600 ft | 42.3°F | 15°F | 81°F | 14.9 | 63 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Cascade's climate
What is the coldest month in Cascade?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 52°F at night).
Does it snow in Cascade?
Yes: 67 inches in a normal year, falling on 28 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (10.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Cascade?
May, with 2.98 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.54 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cascade in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cascade in zone 4a in ZIP code 59485, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Cascade?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 21; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Adel, MT15 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Sun River (4 mi S), MT18 miles from this station, 43.6°F a year
- Holter Dam, MT21 miles from this station, 46.8°F a year
- Great Falls, MT24 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made