Columbus, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Columbus's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 15.5 inches of precipitation and 48 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.9°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 30°C, 394 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColumbus
- Station IDUSC00241938
- Location45.64°N 109.27°W
- Elevation3,602 ft (1,098 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population1,966
On October 23, the normal high in Columbus is 57°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Columbus.
- Jan 37° 10°
- Feb 40° 13°
- Mar 51° 21°
- Apr 58° 28°
- May 67° 37°
- Jun 76° 45°
- Jul 85° 50°
- Aug 84° 48°
- Sep 74° 39°
- Oct 60° 29°
- Nov 46° 19°
- Dec 37° 11°
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 Columbus each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.82 in), the least in January (0.62 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 10°F | 23.4°F | 0.62 | 7.0 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| February | 40°F | 13°F | 26.7°F | 0.67 | 8.8 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 51°F | 21°F | 35.6°F | 0.93 | 7.7 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 28°F | 43.1°F | 1.97 | 4.5 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 37°F | 52.0°F | 2.82 | 0.5 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 45°F | 60.4°F | 2.25 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 50°F | 67.7°F | 1.15 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 84°F | 48°F | 65.9°F | 0.93 | 0.0 | 7 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 74°F | 39°F | 56.7°F | 1.36 | 0.2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 29°F | 44.7°F | 1.49 | 3.8 | 7 | <1 | 16 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 19°F | 32.6°F | 0.69 | 5.9 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 37°F | 11°F | 23.7°F | 0.65 | 9.2 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 29°F | 44.4°F | 15.53 | 47.6 | 91 | 28 | 183 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −12°C | −4.8°C | 16 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 5°C | −11°C | −2.9°C | 17 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 10°C | −6°C | 2.0°C | 24 mm | 20 cm |
| April | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 50 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 19°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 24°C | 7°C | 15.8°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 10°C | 19.8°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 9°C | 18.8°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 4°C | 13.7°C | 35 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 16°C | −1°C | 7.1°C | 38 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 8°C | −7°C | 0.3°C | 18 mm | 15 cm |
| December | 3°C | −12°C | −4.6°C | 17 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241938; 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 Columbus?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September 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 USC00241938.
When is the last frost in Columbus?
In Columbus, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 27 in half of years and after June 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 14 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 271 year in 10 after June 12; 9 in 10 after May 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 141 year in 10 before September 1; 9 in 10 before September 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 108 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 134 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before September 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Columbus in zone 5a in ZIP code 59019, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Columbus's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°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 USC00241938; 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 Columbus?
In a normal year in Columbus, 28 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 183 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 183a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 31high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1930) is 109°F, on July 21, 1931; the lowest is −45°F, on February 17, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 22.58 in; the snowiest season is 2017–18, with 109.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00241938; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00241938. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Columbus?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Columbus, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and April the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.9 |
| February | 76% | 2.8 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 66% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.7 |
| June | 77% | 6.7 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 84% | 6.0 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 72% | 2.9 |
| November | 70% | 1.9 |
| December | 67% | 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 Columbus need?
A normal year in Columbus brings 7,736 heating degree days, 44% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 241 cooling degree days, 73% 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 1,788 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,290 | 0 |
| February | 1,074 | 0 |
| March | 913 | 0 |
| April | 657 | 0 |
| May | 405 | 2 |
| June | 162 | 24 |
| July | 34 | 118 |
| August | 59 | 87 |
| September | 259 | 10 |
| October | 629 | 0 |
| November | 972 | 0 |
| December | 1,282 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,736 | 241 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00241938. 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 Columbus been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.4°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.0°F | +1.6°F | 8.80 | 69.4 |
| 2022 | 44.0°F | −0.4°F | 15.94 | 73.5 |
| 2023 | 45.8°F | +1.4°F | 19.10 | 48.1 |
| 2024 | 46.9°F | +2.5°F | 14.71 | 37.4 |
| 2025 | 46.4°F | +2.0°F | 19.39 | 84.7 |
Over 76 complete years from 1931 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.8°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 USC00241938; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Columbus's climate compare?
Columbus is warmer than 80 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 86. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.4°F is warmer than 17%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Columbus 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 Columbus 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.
- Absarokee, MT998 people · 12 mi SW
- Reed Point, MT113 people · 14 mi W
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 Columbus's climate
What is the coldest month in Columbus?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Columbus?
Yes: 48 inches in a normal year, falling on 24 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (9.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Columbus?
May, with 2.82 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.62 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Columbus in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Columbus in zone 5a in ZIP code 59019, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Columbus's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Columbus?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 27; in one year in ten it comes after June 12. Waiting until June 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Joliet, MT17 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Rapelje, MT22 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Bridger, MT28 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Gibson (2 mi NE), MT29 miles from this station, 43.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made