Deer Lodge, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Deer Lodge's primary NOAA station, DEER LODGE 3 W.
The climate verdict for Deer Lodge
Dryness leads the climate profile for Deer Lodge, Montana, with 14.6 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 40°F. July is the warmest month at 62°F and December the coldest at 21°F.
- 40°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 14.6"
- annual precipitation
Deer Lodge: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00242275 · Deer Lodge, MT 40°F mean · 14.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 40°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Moon Lake
- PRCP-DRY 14.6"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 9,032 HDD
- STN-1 USC00242275
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Moon Lake, UT (+ 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.
- Deer Lodge (this station) 40°F
- Cold Yampa, CO 40°F
- Hot Moon Lake, UT 40°F
- Near Ketchum Ranger…, ID 40°F
- Near Palmer Job Corps, AK 40°F
Deer Lodge 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 · Deer Lodge
Deer Lodge: 9/100 · grade F
Deer Lodge publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Deer Lodge, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 14.6 in · 20.4 from 35 in | 27/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.3°F · 27.2° from 67.5°F | 5/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 227 calendar days | 3/100 · F |
Deer Lodge · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Deer Lodge is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 20.9°F and warmest-month mean 61.6°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
- 61.6°F
- Coldest month
- 20.9°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 Deer Lodge sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Deer Lodge's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 94%
- Among 6,861 stations, Deer Lodge sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 84%
- Deer Lodge's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 39th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F (1°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.5" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 36°F (2°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.7" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 44°F (7°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.3" | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 1.1" | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (17°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.2" | 14.1 | 0.1 |
| June | 69°F (20°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.7" | 5.4 | 0.8 |
| July | 79°F (26°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 1.5" | 0.6 | 4.2 |
| August | 79°F (26°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.3" | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| September | 70°F (21°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.4" | 13.0 | 0.7 |
| October | 55°F (13°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.0" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 40°F (5°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.5" | 28.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (0°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 0.5" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 29, short of 90°F on every date, while 227 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 10°F near December 25.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 10, then returns to freezing around September 27, covering 227 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.
The widest day
August 14 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 Deer Lodge.
Where Deer Lodge Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 227 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.
Deer Lodge earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Deer Lodge runs a summer-peaked wet season
38% of Deer Lodge's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is June at 2.7", on a 40.7°F seasonal spread. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: June, May, July, taking 44% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 11% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,032
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
65
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Deer Lodge 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 (40°F here).
- Jamestown, ND 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Lake City, CO 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Los Alamos, NM 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Crosby, ND 40°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (14.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ester, AK 14.6" · 0.0" off
- Newkirk, NM 14.6" · 0.0" off
- Antelope, OR 14.5" · 0.0" off
- Livermore, CA 14.6" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Deer Lodge's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Deer Lodge's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 9,032 annual heating degree days against 65 for cooling. Its 40.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Deer Lodge. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Deer Lodge's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.7°F. The annual average is 40°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Deer Lodge's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 14.6 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Deer Lodge wettest normal
June
June concentrates the scarce annual total (14.6 inches).
Deer Lodge driest normal
January
January is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Deer Lodge's climate
How dry is Deer Lodge? ▼
How cold does Deer Lodge get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Deer Lodge? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Deer Lodge's primary station: DEER LODGE 3 W (USC00242275). 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 3019825). Match rule for Deer Lodge: 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 Deer Lodge 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.