Choteau, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Choteau's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 11.9 inches of precipitation and 48 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.6°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 28°C, 303 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationChoteau
- Station IDUSC00241737
- Location47.82°N 112.19°W
- Elevation3,845 ft (1,172 m)
- Population1,804
On October 23, the normal high in Choteau is 55°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Choteau.
- Jan 37° 13°
- Feb 39° 14°
- Mar 47° 21°
- Apr 56° 29°
- May 65° 37°
- Jun 72° 44°
- Jul 82° 48°
- Aug 81° 47°
- Sep 72° 40°
- Oct 58° 31°
- Nov 45° 22°
- Dec 37° 15°
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 Choteau each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.75 in), the least in January (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 13°F | 25.4°F | 0.28 | 6.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 39°F | 14°F | 26.5°F | 0.41 | 7.6 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 47°F | 21°F | 34.0°F | 0.52 | 8.1 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 29°F | 42.4°F | 1.15 | 6.6 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 65°F | 37°F | 51.1°F | 2.14 | 1.4 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 72°F | 44°F | 58.2°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 16 h |
| July | 82°F | 48°F | 65.2°F | 0.99 | 0.0 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 81°F | 47°F | 64.0°F | 1.06 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 40°F | 55.7°F | 1.16 | 0.9 | 6 | <1 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 31°F | 44.3°F | 0.74 | 4.2 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 45°F | 22°F | 33.3°F | 0.41 | 6.9 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 37°F | 15°F | 26.0°F | 0.32 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 30°F | 43.8°F | 11.93 | 47.5 | 79 | 9 | 177 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −10°C | −3.7°C | 7 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 4°C | −10°C | −3.1°C | 10 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 8°C | −6°C | 1.1°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 13°C | −2°C | 5.8°C | 29 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 18°C | 3°C | 10.6°C | 54 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 22°C | 7°C | 14.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 9°C | 18.4°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 8°C | 17.8°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 4°C | 13.2°C | 29 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 14°C | −1°C | 6.8°C | 19 mm | 11 cm |
| November | 7°C | −6°C | 0.7°C | 10 mm | 18 cm |
| December | 3°C | −10°C | −3.3°C | 8 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241737; 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 Choteau?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00241737.
When is the last frost in Choteau?
In Choteau, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 28 in half of years and after June 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 12 in half of years and before August 30 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 281 year in 10 after June 20; 9 in 10 after May 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 121 year in 10 before August 30; 9 in 10 before September 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 104 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 134 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 14 in half of springs and before September 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Choteau in zone 4b in ZIP code 59419, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Choteau's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 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 USC00241737; 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 Choteau?
In a normal year in Choteau, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 177 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 79 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 177a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 79a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 106°F, on August 26, 1894; the lowest is −50°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 18.75 in; the snowiest season is 2019–20, with 110.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00241737; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00241737. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Choteau?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Choteau, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.4 |
| February | 69% | 2.4 |
| March | 66% | 3.5 |
| April | 66% | 4.6 |
| May | 67% | 5.6 |
| June | 73% | 6.4 |
| July | 87% | 7.3 |
| August | 83% | 5.9 |
| September | 77% | 4.3 |
| October | 69% | 2.6 |
| November | 61% | 1.5 |
| December | 60% | 1.1 |
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 Choteau need?
A normal year in Choteau brings 7,845 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 155 cooling degree days, 83% 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 1,568 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,228 | 0 |
| February | 1,077 | 0 |
| March | 961 | 0 |
| April | 680 | 0 |
| May | 435 | 2 |
| June | 217 | 13 |
| July | 67 | 72 |
| August | 90 | 57 |
| September | 289 | 10 |
| October | 644 | 2 |
| November | 951 | 0 |
| December | 1,209 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,845 | 155 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241737. 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 Choteau been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.3°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.5°F | +0.7°F | 9.82 | 32.1 |
| 2022 | 43.8°F | at normal | 10.02 | 56.6 |
| 2023 | 45.9°F | +2.1°F | 11.92 | 44.3 |
| 2024 | 45.0°F | +1.2°F | 12.14 | 38.1 |
| 2025 | 45.3°F | +1.5°F | 10.61 | 44.1 |
Over 78 complete years from 1891 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.7°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00241737; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Choteau's climate compare?
Choteau is warmer than 68 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.8°F is warmer than 15%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Choteau 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 Choteau share this climate record?
New Rockport Colony 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.
- New Rockport Colony, MT133 people · 8 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.
What do Choteau's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Choteau. This page uses Choteau; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choteau (8 mi NE) USC00241738 | 8 mi E | 3,741 ft | 43.3°F | 13°F | 82°F | 13.1 | – | May 20 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Choteau's climate
What is the coldest month in Choteau?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Choteau?
Yes: 48 inches in a normal year, falling on 32 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (8.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Choteau?
June, with 2.75 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Choteau in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Choteau in zone 4b in ZIP code 59419, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Choteau's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Choteau?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 28; in one year in ten it comes after June 20. Waiting until June 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bynum, MT9 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Fairfield, MT17 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Blackleaf, MT17 miles from this station, 41.3°F a year
- Augusta, MT25 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made