Gillette, WY 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 Gillette's primary NOAA station, GILLETTE 4SE.
The climate verdict for Gillette
Dryness leads the climate profile for Gillette, Wyoming, with 17.6 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 47°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 47°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 17.6"
- annual precipitation · 56" snow
- 139 days
- frost-free growing season
Gillette: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00483855 · Gillette, WY 47°F mean · 17.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,784
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Jackson
- PRCP-DRY 17.6"
- SWING-WIDE 46°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,158 HDD
- STN-1 USC00483855
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Jackson, WI ( -0.1 °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 WY station list.
- Gillette (this station) 47°F
- Cold Jackson, WI 47°F
- Hot Clinton Wwtp, WI 47°F
- Near Hay Springs, NE 47°F
- Near Bear Ridge, SD 47°F
Gillette sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Gillette
Gillette: 26/100 · grade F
Gillette publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Gillette, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 17.6 in · 17.4 from 35 in | 38/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.8°F · 20.7° from 67.5°F | 26/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 180 calendar days | 25/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 139 days/year | 18/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 55.7 inches/year | 18/100 · F |
Gillette · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Gillette is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 25.9°F and warmest-month mean 71.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 71.7°F
- Coldest month
- 25.9°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 Gillette sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Gillette's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 74%
- Among 6,861 stations, Gillette sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 77%
- Gillette's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 63rd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Gillette compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Gillette's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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
Gillette's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 84 complete annual observations from 1905 to 2025, GILLETTE 4SE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.14°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Gillette primary station fitted change +0.14 °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 | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 8.2" | 29.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 38°F (3°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.8" | 9.0" | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 49°F (9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.1" | 8.6" | 25.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 2.1" | 9.4" | 17.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 3.3" | 1.3" | 5.7 | 0.4 |
| June | 77°F (25°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 2.5" | 0.1" | 0.1 | 3.1 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 1.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.6 |
| August | 85°F (30°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.7 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.3" | 0.5" | 1.8 | 2.7 |
| October | 59°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.6" | 4.4" | 13.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.6" | 5.8" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 8.4" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 25, short of 90°F on every date, while 180 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 15°F near December 22.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 18, then returns to freezing around October 22, covering 180 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 22, when 41% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 27 at 20%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 100 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Gillette.
Where Gillette Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 180 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Gillette earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.2"
7.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.0"
7.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.6"
7.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.4"
10.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.3"
12.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
10.4 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.4"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.8"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.4"
6.9 days with precipitation
Gillette spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 32% of the annual total and December through February 11%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Gillette has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 45.8°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 3.3" and January 0.6". The three wettest months together take 45% 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.
Gillette is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 100 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 27% of the calendar, and they carry 17.6" between them. At roughly 0.18 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 13 wet days; the driest is September at about 6.
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 Gillette
Gillette averages 55.7 inches of snowfall a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 35 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: 55.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 35 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 32% 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 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 15
50% probability date
Growing Season
139 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,158
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
571
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Gillette 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 (47°F here).
- Bigfork, MT 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Chamberlain, SD 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dakota City, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Dodge, WI 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (17.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Morton, TX 17.6" · 0.0" off
- Capulin, NM 17.6" · 0.0" off
- Castle Rock, CO 17.6" · 0.0" off
- Sedgwick, CO 17.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Gillette
heating led · dry · mid swing
Gillette's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,158 annual heating degree days against 571 for cooling. Its 45.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 139 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. Gillette coldest normal
December
The monthly mean of 26°F (-3°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Gillette typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Gillette snow peak
April
Gillette averages 55.7 inches of snow a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Gillette's climate
How much snow does Gillette get? ▼
How cold does Gillette get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Gillette? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Gillette's primary station: GILLETTE 4SE (USC00483855). 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 5631855). Match rule for Gillette: 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 Gillette 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.