Howe, ID 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 Howe's primary NOAA station, HOWE.
The climate verdict for Howe
Dryness leads the climate profile for Howe, Idaho, with 7.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 44°F. At 34/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 2% of scores.
- 44°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 7.3"
- annual precipitation · 11" snow
- 113 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Howe: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00104384 · Howe, ID 44°F mean · 7.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,029
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Hollis
- PRCP-ARID 7.3"
- SWING-WIDE 51°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,936 HDD
- STN-1 USC00104384
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Hollis, ME (+ 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 ID station list.
- Howe (this station) 44°F
- Hot Green Rvr, WY 44°F
- Near Hollis, ME 44°F
- Near Rumford, ME 44°F
- Near Lincoln Nepp, NH 44°F
Climate Living Index · Howe
Howe: 19/100 · grade F
Howe publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Howe, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 11.1 inches/year | 62/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 191 calendar days | 19/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.0°F · 23.5° from 67.5°F | 16/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 7.3 in · 27.7 from 35 in | 6/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 113 days/year | 4/100 · F |
Howe · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Howe'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
- 69.2°F
- Coldest month
- 18.6°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 Howe sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Howe's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 85%
- Among 6,861 stations, Howe sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 98%
- Howe's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 83%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Howe is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Howe compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Howe's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
34 2nd percentile score exceeds 2% 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
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) | 7°F (-14°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.6" | 4.7" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 35°F (1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.3" | 0.9" | 27.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.6" | 0.4" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.8" | 0.3" | 16.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (20°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 4.6 | 0.2 |
| June | 76°F (25°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 15.1 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 11.7 |
| September | 76°F (24°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 5.3 | 1.4 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.6" | 0.1" | 19.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 0.4" | 0.5" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 30°F (-1°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 0.4" | 4.2" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 191 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 20.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 18, then returns to freezing around October 11, covering 191 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 20, when 17% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 13 at 7%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 34 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 38°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Howe.
Where Howe Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 7 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 38°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Howe 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: 4.7"
2.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
2.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
2.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
3.7 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
4.0 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
2.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
1.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
3.0 days with precipitation
Howe spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 26% of the annual total and December through February 18%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Howe has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 50.6°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 1.2" and February 0.3". The three wettest months together take 42% 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.
How Howe's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 35 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 7.3" between them, or roughly 0.21 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Snow reaches Howe, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 11.1 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 4 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
113 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,936
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
319
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ID closest to Howe 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 (44°F here).
- Blair, WI 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Brockway, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Dassel, MN 44°F · 0.0°F off
- De Smet, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (7.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Alamosa, CO 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Bluff, UT 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Richland, WA 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Hiko, NV 7.3" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Howe's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Howe's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,936 annual heating degree days against 319 for cooling. Its 50.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 113 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 Howe's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 50.6°F. The annual average is 44°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Howe's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 7.3 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 11.1 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Howe wettest normal
May
May concentrates the scarce annual total (7.3 inches).
Howe driest normal
February
February is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Howe's climate
How dry is Howe? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Howe get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Howe? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Howe's primary station: HOWE (USC00104384). 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 Howe; 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 Howe 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.