Jackson, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Jackson's normal year runs from 8°F December nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 11.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 2.7°C, December lows of −14°C, July highs of 25°C, 304 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationJackson
- Station IDUSC00244447
- Location45.37°N 113.41°W
- Elevation6,480 ft (1,975 m)
- Population (census place)23
On October 22, the normal high in Jackson is 48°F and the normal low 23°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Jackson.
- Jan 28° 8°
- Feb 31° 8°
- Mar 39° 16°
- Apr 46° 23°
- May 57° 31°
- Jun 66° 37°
- Jul 77° 42°
- Aug 76° 39°
- Sep 66° 32°
- Oct 51° 25°
- Nov 36° 15°
- Dec 27° 8°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Jackson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (1.94 in), the least in February (0.53 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 8°F | 18.4°F | 0.59 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 31°F | 8°F | 19.7°F | 0.53 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 16°F | 27.4°F | 0.83 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 46°F | 23°F | 34.5°F | 1.05 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 57°F | 31°F | 44.0°F | 1.50 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 66°F | 37°F | 51.5°F | 1.94 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 77°F | 42°F | 59.2°F | 0.91 | 5 | <1 | 2 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 76°F | 39°F | 57.3°F | 0.90 | 5 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 66°F | 32°F | 48.9°F | 1.10 | 4 | <1 | 15 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 51°F | 25°F | 37.8°F | 0.94 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h |
| November | 36°F | 15°F | 25.2°F | 1.01 | 7 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 27°F | 8°F | 17.2°F | 0.65 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 24°F | 36.8°F | 11.95 | 83 | <1 | 250 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −13°C | −7.6°C | 15 mm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −6.8°C | 13 mm |
| March | 4°C | −9°C | −2.6°C | 21 mm |
| April | 8°C | −5°C | 1.4°C | 27 mm |
| May | 14°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 38 mm |
| June | 19°C | 3°C | 10.8°C | 49 mm |
| July | 25°C | 5°C | 15.1°C | 23 mm |
| August | 24°C | 4°C | 14.1°C | 23 mm |
| September | 19°C | 0°C | 9.4°C | 28 mm |
| October | 10°C | −4°C | 3.2°C | 24 mm |
| November | 2°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 26 mm |
| December | −3°C | −14°C | −8.2°C | 17 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00244447; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Jackson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00244447.
How hot and how cold does it get in Jackson?
In a normal year in Jackson, a 90°F day is rare, 250 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 83 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 250a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 77high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 83a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1954) is 93°F, on June 22, 2001; the lowest is −41°F, on February 4, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1995, with 19.15 in; the snowiest season is 1956–57, with 98.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00244447; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00244447. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Jackson?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Jackson, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 1.7 |
| February | 73% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 4.0 |
| April | 70% | 5.1 |
| May | 70% | 5.9 |
| June | 76% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 7.3 |
| August | 84% | 6.2 |
| September | 80% | 4.7 |
| October | 73% | 3.0 |
| November | 68% | 1.9 |
| December | 65% | 1.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Jackson need?
A normal year in Jackson brings 10,280 heating degree days, 91% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 13 cooling degree days, 99% fewer than the median (908). Ten months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 742 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,445 | 0 |
| February | 1,270 | 0 |
| March | 1,166 | 0 |
| April | 915 | 0 |
| May | 651 | 0 |
| June | 406 | 1 |
| July | 189 | 9 |
| August | 240 | 3 |
| September | 482 | 0 |
| October | 843 | 0 |
| November | 1,194 | 0 |
| December | 1,480 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 10,280 | 13 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00244447. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
How does Jackson's climate compare?
Jackson is warmer than 5 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 15. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 36.8°F is warmer than 2%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Jackson is Dfc: continental, no dry season, cool summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Jackson share this climate record?
Maverick Mountain has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Maverick Mountain, MT55 people · 15 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Jackson's climate
What is the coldest month in Jackson?
December, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 42°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Jackson?
June, with 1.94 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.53 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Jackson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Jackson in zone 5a in ZIP code 59736, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Jackson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wisdom, MT17 miles from this station, 35.2°F a year
- Salmon, ID27 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Gibbonsville #2, ID28 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Glen, MT36 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made