Idaho City, ID Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Idaho City's primary NOAA station, IDAHO CITY.
The climate verdict for Idaho City
Idaho City, Idaho has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 44°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.
- 44°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.1"
- annual precipitation
- 80 days
- frost-free growing season
Idaho City: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00104442 · Idaho City, ID 44°F mean · 21.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #961
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Rogers Pass
- PRCP-DRY 21.1"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,892 HDD
- STN-1 USC00104442
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Rogers Pass, MT (+ 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 ID station list.
- Idaho City (this station) 44°F
- Hot Fortine, MT 44°F
- Near Rogers Pass, MT 44°F
- Near Yellowpine, ID 44°F
- Near Hill City, SD 44°F
Climate Living Index · Idaho City
Idaho City: 17/100 · grade F
Idaho City publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Idaho City, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 21.1 in · 13.9 from 35 in | 51/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 43.8°F · 23.7° from 67.5°F | 15/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 221 calendar days | 5/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 80 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Idaho City · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Idaho City is a continental Köppen climate: Dsb
Coldest-month mean 24.3°F and warmest-month mean 66.3°F place this station in continental, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Dsb). Class Dsb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dsb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 66.3°F
- Coldest month
- 24.3°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 Idaho City sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Idaho City's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 86%
- Among 6,861 stations, Idaho City sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 71%
- Idaho City's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 44th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Idaho City compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Idaho City'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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (2°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 3.2" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 41°F (5°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.9" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 2.3" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 1.6" | 24.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.1" | 12.3 | 0.2 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.1" | 4.1 | 2.2 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.3" | 0.1 | 13.4 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.4" | 1.0 | 12.8 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 0.8" | 9.8 | 2.0 |
| October | 62°F (16°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.5" | 25.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 2.4" | 28.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 35°F (1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 3.5" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 90°F around July 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 221 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 6, then returns to freezing around September 29, covering 221 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 December 13, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 10 at 8%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 88 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 43°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Idaho City.
Where Idaho City Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 221 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 43°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Idaho City earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
10.6 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
Idaho City's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 41% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 9%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows a 42°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- December, 3.5"
- Driest month
- July, 0.3"
- Wettest three months
- December, January, November (43% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
How Idaho City's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 88 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 21.1" between them, or roughly 0.24 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 5
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 17
50% probability date
Growing Season
80 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,892
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
202
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ID closest to Idaho City 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).
- Bridgton, ME 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Buffalo, MN 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Choteau, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Harlowton, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Alpine, UT 21.1" · 0.0" off
- Beaver, OK 21.1" · 0.0" off
- Liberal, KS 21.1" · 0.0" off
- McHenry, ND 21.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Idaho City's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Idaho City's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,892 annual heating degree days against 202 for cooling. Its 42.0°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.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Idaho City's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.0°F. The annual average is 44°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Idaho City's 21.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Idaho City'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 Idaho City, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Idaho City's climate
How much rain does Idaho City get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Idaho City get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Idaho City? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Idaho City's primary station: IDAHO CITY (USC00104442). 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 1639610). Match rule for Idaho City: 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 Idaho City 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.