Creston, Montana climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Creston's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 19.3 inches of precipitation and 51 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.9°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 27°C, 489 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCreston
- Station IDUSC00242104
- Location48.19°N 114.13°W
- Elevation2,935 ft (895 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Creston is 52°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 37%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Creston.
- Jan 32° 18°
- Feb 37° 19°
- Mar 45° 26°
- Apr 55° 32°
- May 65° 40°
- Jun 71° 47°
- Jul 81° 51°
- Aug 81° 49°
- Sep 70° 41°
- Oct 56° 32°
- Nov 41° 26°
- Dec 33° 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 at Creston each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.57 in), the least in August (0.94 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 18°F | 25.3°F | 1.46 | 13.8 | 14 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 37°F | 19°F | 27.9°F | 1.19 | 11.0 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 45°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 1.14 | 6.3 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 32°F | 43.7°F | 1.81 | 2.1 | 11 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 65°F | 40°F | 52.6°F | 2.18 | 0.1 | 13 | <1 | 4 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 71°F | 47°F | 58.6°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 81°F | 51°F | 65.9°F | 1.22 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 81°F | 49°F | 64.9°F | 0.94 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 70°F | 41°F | 55.4°F | 1.32 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 32°F | 43.5°F | 1.49 | 0.5 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 26°F | 33.5°F | 1.45 | 3.4 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 33°F | 20°F | 26.3°F | 1.48 | 13.4 | 13 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 33°F | 44.4°F | 19.25 | 50.6 | 129 | 7 | 179 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −8°C | −3.7°C | 37 mm | 35 cm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.3°C | 30 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 29 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 13°C | 0°C | 6.5°C | 46 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 21°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 11°C | 18.8°C | 31 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 9°C | 18.3°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 5°C | 13.0°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 0°C | 6.4°C | 38 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 5°C | −4°C | 0.8°C | 37 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 0°C | −7°C | −3.2°C | 38 mm | 34 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00242104; 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.
Which months are mildest at Creston?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00242104.
When is the last frost at Creston?
In Creston, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after May 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 9 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 121 year in 10 after May 26; 9 in 10 after April 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 9; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 134 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 161 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Creston in zone 6a in ZIP code 59932, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (28 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 USC00242104; 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 at Creston?
In a normal year in Creston, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 179 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 129 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 179a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 47high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 129a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1949) is 100°F, on August 4, 1961; the lowest is −41°F, on December 30, 1968.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1989, with 26.85 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 129.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00242104; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00242104. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Creston?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Creston, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (50%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.1 |
| February | 62% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.1 |
| April | 65% | 4.4 |
| May | 68% | 5.5 |
| June | 69% | 6.0 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 65% | 2.4 |
| November | 53% | 1.2 |
| December | 50% | 0.8 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Creston record?
A normal year at Creston brings 7,666 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 192 cooling degree days, 79% 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 1,586 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,229 | 0 |
| February | 1,040 | 0 |
| March | 918 | 0 |
| April | 641 | 0 |
| May | 389 | 3 |
| June | 208 | 17 |
| July | 63 | 93 |
| August | 78 | 75 |
| September | 293 | 5 |
| October | 665 | 0 |
| November | 944 | 0 |
| December | 1,200 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,666 | 192 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00242104. 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.
Have recent years at Creston been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 45.8°F, 1.4°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 | 44.6°F | +0.2°F | 17.02 | 34.9 |
| 2022 | 42.9°F | −1.5°F | 17.49 | 56.2 |
| 2023 | 44.8°F | +0.4°F | 12.83 | 22.4 |
| 2024 | 44.8°F | +0.4°F | 18.61 | 41.5 |
| 2025 | 45.8°F | +1.4°F | 19.88 | 54.2 |
Over 69 complete years from 1950 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.2°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00242104; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Creston's climate compare?
Creston is warmer than 80 of the 141 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 114. 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, Creston 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 Creston share this climate record?
4 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.
- Bigfork, MT5,249 people · 8 mi SE
- Lakeside, MT2,730 people · 13 mi S
- Somers, MT1,181 people · 9 mi SW
- Forest Hill Village, MT234 people · 8 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.
Questions about Creston's climate
What is the coldest month at Creston?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 51°F at night).
Does it snow at Creston?
Yes: 51 inches in a normal year, falling on 31 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Creston?
June, with 3.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.94 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Creston in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Creston in zone 6a in ZIP code 59932, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come at Creston?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after May 26. Waiting until May 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kalispell, MT10 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Hungry Horse, MT12 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Whitefish, MT19 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Bigfork (13 mi S), MT22 miles from this station, 46.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made