Gardiner, ME 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 Gardiner's primary NOAA station, GARDINER.
The climate verdict for Gardiner
Water is the standout signal in Gardiner, Maine: 47.7 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 46°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 46°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 47.7"
- annual precipitation · 69" snow
- 163 days
- frost-free growing season
Gardiner: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00173046 · Gardiner, ME 46°F mean · 47.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,509
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Standish
- PRCP-MID 47.7"
- SWING-WIDE 50°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,375 HDD
- STN-1 USC00173046
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Standish, 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 ME station list.
- Gardiner (this station) 46°F
- Cold Mt Rushmore Nmem, SD 46°F
- Hot Wyola, MT 46°F
- Near Standish, MI 46°F
- Near Bridger, MT 46°F
Gardiner sits in Maine, the #4 coldest U.S. state at 43.1°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Gardiner
Gardiner: 33/100 · grade F
Gardiner publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Gardiner, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 47.7 in · 12.7 from 35 in | 55/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 159 calendar days | 40/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 163 days/year | 36/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 45.8°F · 21.7° from 67.5°F | 22/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 68.9 inches/year | 10/100 · F |
Gardiner · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Gardiner is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 19.8°F and warmest-month mean 70.0°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
- 70.0°F
- Coldest month
- 19.8°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 Gardiner sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Gardiner's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 78%
- Among 6,861 stations, Gardiner sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 25% wettest
- Gardiner's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 81%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Gardiner is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Gardiner compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Gardiner's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Gardiner's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 110 complete annual observations from 1887 to 2024, GARDINER warmed at a fitted rate of 0.05°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Gardiner primary station fitted change +0.05 °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 | 30°F (-1°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 3.6" | 17.6" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 33°F (1°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 3.0" | 20.0" | 27.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 42°F (5°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 3.7" | 12.7" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 54°F (12°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 4.2" | 2.8" | 15.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 3.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| October | 60°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 5.4" | 0.2" | 8.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 47°F (8°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 4.5" | 2.3" | 21.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 4.4" | 13.3" | 29.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 81°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 159 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 29.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 13, then returns to freezing around November 7, covering 159 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 June 12, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 30 at 29%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 124 wet dates a year.
The widest day
February 12 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 23°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Gardiner.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 17.6"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 20.0"
8.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 12.7"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
10.7 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
12.2 days with precipitation
11.1 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
11.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.3"
10.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.3"
10.7 days with precipitation
Gardiner spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 24% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Gardiner has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 50.2°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 5.4" and February 3.0". The three wettest months together take 30% 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.
When it rains in Gardiner, it arrives in quantity
47.7" of precipitation falls across only about 123 wet days here, averaging 0.39 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 123 a year, 34% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.39 inches
- Most wet days
- June, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- February, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Gardiner
Gardiner averages 68.9 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 23 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: 68.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 23 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 14% 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
October 11
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
163 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,375
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
427
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ME closest to Gardiner 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 (46°F here).
- Angelica, NY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Cass City, MI 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Flaming Gorge, UT 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Germantown, WI 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (47.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cynthiana, KY 47.7" · 0.0" off
- Glencoe, KY 47.7" · 0.0" off
- Inez, KY 47.7" · 0.0" off
- Du Quoin, IL 47.7" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Gardiner
heating led · wet · mid swing
Gardiner's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,375 annual heating degree days against 427 for cooling. Its 50.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Gardiner's frost-free season lasts about 163 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Gardiner coldest normal
January
Averaging 20°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Gardiner typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Gardiner snow peak
February
Gardiner averages 68.9 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Gardiner's climate
How much snow does Gardiner get? ▼
How cold does Gardiner get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Gardiner? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Gardiner's primary station: GARDINER (USC00173046). 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 2327085). Match rule for Gardiner: 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 Gardiner 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.