Ennis, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Ennis's primary NOAA station, ENNIS.
The climate verdict for Ennis
Dryness leads the climate profile for Ennis, Montana, with 12.9 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 43°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.
- 43°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 39/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 12.9"
- annual precipitation · 45" snow
- 80 days
- frost-free growing season
Ennis: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00242793 · Ennis, MT 43°F mean · 12.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #755
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Montrose
- PRCP-DRY 12.9"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-LOW 39/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,190 HDD
- STN-1 USC00242793
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Montrose, CO (+ 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.
- Ennis (this station) 43°F
- Hot Burris, WY 43°F
- Near Montrose, CO 43°F
- Near Sugar City, ID 43°F
- Near Dillon U of Mon…, MT 43°F
Ennis 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 · Ennis
Ennis: 12/100 · grade F
Ennis publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Ennis, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 39/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 44.7 inches/year | 24/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 12.9 in · 22.1 from 35 in | 21/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.7°F · 24.8° from 67.5°F | 11/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 215 calendar days | 7/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 80 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Ennis · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Ennis is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 23.8°F and warmest-month mean 64.2°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
- 64.2°F
- Coldest month
- 23.8°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 Ennis sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Ennis's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 89%
- Among 6,861 stations, Ennis sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 88%
- Ennis's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 37th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Ennis compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Ennis'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
Ennis's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 86 complete annual observations from 1918 to 2025, ENNIS warmed at a fitted rate of 0.12°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Ennis primary station fitted change +0.12 °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 | 34°F (1°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 6.5" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.5" | 7.6" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.8" | 6.6" | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 55°F (13°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.5" | 6.0" | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 64°F (18°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 1.9" | 1.3" | 9.0 | 0.1 |
| June | 73°F (23°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.2" | 0.2" | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 7.1 |
| August | 82°F (28°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 4.7 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.0" | 0.1" | 6.6 | 0.6 |
| October | 58°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.1" | 2.2" | 17.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.7" | 6.9" | 23.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 33°F (1°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 7.3" | 28.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 27, short of 90°F on every date, while 215 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near December 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 6, then returns to freezing around October 5, covering 215 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 30, when 41% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 23 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 94 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 5 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 39°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Ennis.
Where Ennis Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 215 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 39°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Ennis 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: 6.5"
5.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.6"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.6"
7.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
10.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.3"
11.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
11.1 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.2"
7.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.9"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
5.9 days with precipitation
Ennis spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 12%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Ennis has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 2.2" and January 0.5". The three wettest months together take 43% 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.
Ennis is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 94 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 26% of the calendar, and they carry 12.9" between them. At roughly 0.14 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 Ennis
Ennis averages 44.7 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 27 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: 44.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 27 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 35% 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 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 16
50% probability date
Growing Season
80 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,190
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
102
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Ennis 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 (43°F here).
- Danbury, WI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Holcombe, WI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Idaho Falls, ID 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Malone, NY 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (12.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mountainair, NM 12.9" · 0.0" off
- Cheraw, CO 13.0" · 0.0" off
- Cedar City, UT 13.0" · 0.1" off
- Blanding, UT 12.9" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Ennis
heating led · dry · mid swing
Ennis's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,190 annual heating degree days against 102 for cooling. Its 40.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 80 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. Ennis coldest normal
December
Averaging 24°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Ennis typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Ennis snow peak
February
Ennis averages 44.7 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Ennis's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Ennis's primary station: ENNIS (USC00242793). 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 3024475). Match rule for Ennis: 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 Ennis 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.