Great Falls 16st, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Great Falls 16st's primary NOAA station, GREAT FALLS 16ST.
The climate verdict for Great Falls 16st
Dryness leads the climate profile for Great Falls 16st, Montana, with 15.4 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 47°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 47°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.4"
- precipitation, annual total
- 148 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Great Falls 16st: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00243749 · Great Falls 16st, MT 47°F mean · 15.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,852
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pocatello Rgnl
- PRCP-DRY 15.4"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,942 HDD
- STN-1 USC00243749
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Pocatello Rgnl, ID (+ 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.
- Great Falls 16st (this station) 47°F
- Hot Port Hope, MI 47°F
- Near Pocatello Rgnl, ID 47°F
- Near Montague, MI 47°F
- Near Tioga Hammond D…, PA 47°F
Great Falls 16st 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 · Great Falls 16st
Great Falls 16st: 30/100 · grade F
Great Falls 16st publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Great Falls 16st, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 167 calendar days | 34/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 15.4 in · 19.6 from 35 in | 30/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 47.0°F · 20.5° from 67.5°F | 27/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 148 days/year | 24/100 · F |
Great Falls 16st · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Great Falls 16st's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 70.4°F
- Coldest month
- 27.2°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 Great Falls 16st sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Great Falls 16st's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 73%
- Among 6,861 stations, Great Falls 16st sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 81%
- Great Falls 16st's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 50th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Great Falls 16st compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Great Falls 16st's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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
Great Falls 16st's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 33 complete annual observations from 1899 to 2025, GREAT FALLS 16ST warmed at a fitted rate of 0.09°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Great Falls 16st primary station fitted change +0.09 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F (3°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 24.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 39°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.6" | 23.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.6" | 21.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (15°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.8" | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.7" | 3.4 | 0.1 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.7" | 0.2 | 1.8 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 1.3" | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 1.3" | 0.0 | 8.2 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 1.4" | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| October | 59°F (15°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.1" | 11.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 45°F (7°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.7" | 18.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.6" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 88°F around July 24, short of 90°F on every date, while 167 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 17°F near January 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 11, then returns to freezing around October 28, covering 167 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 28, when 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 2 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 89 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Great Falls 16st.
Where Great Falls 16st Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 15 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Great Falls 16st 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
6.1 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
6.1 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
Great Falls 16st spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 35% of the annual total and December through February 11%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Great Falls 16st has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 2.7" and December 0.6". The three wettest months together take 47% 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.
Great Falls 16st is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 89 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 24% of the calendar, and they carry 15.4" between them. At roughly 0.17 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 11 wet days; the driest is August 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 6
50% probability date
Growing Season
148 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,942
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
422
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Great Falls 16st 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).
- Alma, MI 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Anamosa, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Audubon, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bly, OR 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Kit Carson, CO 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Cheyenne, WY 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Lompoc, CA 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Tioga, ND 15.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Great Falls 16st's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Great Falls 16st's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,942 annual heating degree days against 422 for cooling. Its 43.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 148 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 January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Great Falls 16st's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 43.2°F. The annual average is 47°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Great Falls 16st's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 15.4 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 Great Falls 16st'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 Great Falls 16st, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Great Falls 16st's climate
How much rain does Great Falls 16st get? ▼
How cold does Great Falls 16st get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Great Falls 16st? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Great Falls 16st's primary station: GREAT FALLS 16ST (USC00243749). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Great Falls 16st; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Great Falls 16st 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.