Elliston, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Elliston's primary NOAA station, ELLISTON.
The climate verdict for Elliston
Dryness leads the climate profile for Elliston, Montana, with 19.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 40°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 40°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 19.1"
- annual precipitation
- 91 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Elliston: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00242738 · Elliston, MT 40°F mean · 19.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 40°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Paradise
- PRCP-DRY 19.1"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 9,075 HDD
- STN-1 USC00242738
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Paradise, MI (+ 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.
- Elliston (this station) 40°F
- Cold Ketchum Ranger…, ID 40°F
- Hot York Pond, NH 40°F
- Near Paradise, MI 40°F
- Near Covington, MI 40°F
Elliston 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 · Elliston
Elliston: 12/100 · grade F
Elliston publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Elliston, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 19.1 in · 15.9 from 35 in | 44/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 219 calendar days | 6/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.3°F · 27.2° from 67.5°F | 5/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 91 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Elliston · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Elliston is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 20.8°F and warmest-month mean 63.5°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
- 63.5°F
- Coldest month
- 20.8°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 Elliston sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Elliston'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, Elliston sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 74%
- Elliston's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 47th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Elliston compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Elliston's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
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 (0°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 1.1" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 33°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.0" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.4" | 29.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 51°F (10°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.8" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 60°F (16°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.5" | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (20°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.8" | 2.2 | 0.6 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.4" | 0.1 | 5.5 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 1.4" | 0.7 | 4.1 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.4" | 8.4 | 0.4 |
| October | 53°F (12°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 1.8" | 23.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 39°F (4°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.5" | 28.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (0°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 1.1" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 219 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 10°F near December 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 7, then returns to freezing around October 2, covering 219 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 12 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 Elliston.
Where Elliston Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 219 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.
Elliston earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Elliston spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 17%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Elliston has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 42.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 2.8" and February 1.0". The three wettest months together take 37% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 8
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 9
50% probability date
Growing Season
91 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,075
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
105
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Elliston 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 (19.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hooker, OK 19.1" · 0.0" off
- Sunriver, OR 19.1" · 0.0" off
- Goodland, KS 19.1" · 0.0" off
- Idalia, CO 19.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Elliston's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Elliston's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 9,075 annual heating degree days against 105 for cooling. Its 42.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 91 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.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Elliston's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.7°F. The annual average is 40°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Elliston's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 19.1 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.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Elliston's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Elliston, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Elliston's climate
How much rain does Elliston get? ▼
How cold does Elliston get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Elliston? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Elliston's primary station: ELLISTON (USC00242738). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 3023950), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Elliston: 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 Elliston 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.