Columbus, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Columbus's primary NOAA station, COLUMBUS.
The climate verdict for Columbus
Dryness leads the climate profile for Columbus, Montana, with 15.5 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 44°F. At 39/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 4% of scores.
- 44°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 39/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.5"
- annual precipitation · 48" snow
- 110 days
- frost-free growing season
Columbus: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00241938 · Columbus, MT 44°F mean · 15.5" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,166
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Fairfield
- PRCP-DRY 15.5"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-LOW 39/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,736 HDD
- STN-1 USC00241938
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Fairfield, MT (+ 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.
- Columbus (this station) 44°F
- Cold Robbinston, ME 44°F
- Hot Pine Valley - C…, NV 44°F
- Near Fairfield, MT 44°F
- Near Wesley, ME 44°F
Columbus 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 · Columbus
Columbus: 17/100 · grade F
Columbus publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Columbus, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 39/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 15.5 in · 19.5 from 35 in | 30/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 47.6 inches/year | 22/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.4°F · 23.1° from 67.5°F | 18/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 205 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 110 days/year | 3/100 · F |
Columbus · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Columbus is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 23.4°F and warmest-month mean 67.7°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
- 67.7°F
- Coldest month
- 23.4°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 Columbus sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Columbus's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 83%
- Among 6,861 stations, Columbus sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 81%
- Columbus's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 55th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Columbus compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Columbus's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
39 4th percentile score exceeds 4% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 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
Columbus's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 76 complete annual observations from 1931 to 2025, COLUMBUS warmed at a fitted rate of 0.15°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Columbus primary station fitted change +0.15 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F (3°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.6" | 7.0" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (5°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.7" | 8.8" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 51°F (10°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.9" | 7.7" | 26.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (14°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 2.0" | 4.5" | 18.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 2.8" | 0.5" | 5.7 | 0.2 |
| June | 76°F (24°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| July | 85°F (30°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 12.1 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 10.2 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.4" | 0.2" | 3.2 | 2.3 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.5" | 3.8" | 16.4 | 0.1 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 0.7" | 5.9" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.7" | 9.2" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 205 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 9°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 1, then returns to freezing around October 10, covering 205 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 May 29, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 21 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 91 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 23 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 37°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Columbus.
Where Columbus Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 205 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 37°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Columbus earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.0"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.8"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.7"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
9.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
11.6 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
6.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.8"
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.9"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.2"
5.9 days with precipitation
Columbus spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 28% of the annual total and December through February 12%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Columbus has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 44.3°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.8" and January 0.6". The three wettest months together take 45% 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.
Columbus is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 91 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 25% of the calendar, and they carry 15.5" between them. At roughly 0.17 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is May at about 12 wet days; the driest is January at about 5.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Columbus
Columbus averages 47.6 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 24 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 47.6 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 24 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 31% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 27
50% probability date
Growing Season
110 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,736
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
241
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Columbus 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 (44°F here).
- Bellemont, AZ 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Bridgeport, CA 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Challis, ID 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Edgemont, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Salt Lake City, UT 15.5" · 0.0" off
- Fort Davis, TX 15.5" · 0.0" off
- Kanosh, UT 15.5" · 0.0" off
- Denio, NV 15.5" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Columbus
heating led · dry · mid swing
Columbus's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,736 annual heating degree days against 241 for cooling. Its 44.3°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 110 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Columbus coldest normal
January
Averaging 23°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Columbus typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Columbus snow peak
December
Columbus averages 47.6 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Columbus's climate
How much snow does Columbus get? ▼
How cold does Columbus get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Columbus? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Columbus's primary station: COLUMBUS (USC00241938). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 3016825). Match rule for Columbus: 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 Columbus 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.