Kalispell, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Kalispell's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 16.8 inches of precipitation and 54 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 426 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKalispell Glacier Airport
- Station IDUSC00244558
- Location48.30°N 114.26°W
- Elevation2,957 ft (901 m)
- Population31,296
On October 14, the normal high in Kalispell is 55°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Kalispell.
- Jan 31° 16°
- Feb 36° 18°
- Mar 45° 24°
- Apr 55° 31°
- May 65° 38°
- Jun 71° 44°
- Jul 82° 48°
- Aug 82° 46°
- Sep 70° 38°
- Oct 54° 29°
- Nov 39° 24°
- Dec 31° 17°
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 Kalispell each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.84 in), the least in August (0.76 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 16°F | 23.7°F | 1.40 | 13.9 | 14 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 36°F | 18°F | 26.8°F | 0.96 | 8.4 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 45°F | 24°F | 34.5°F | 1.11 | 5.4 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 31°F | 42.7°F | 1.34 | 1.2 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 65°F | 38°F | 51.6°F | 1.84 | 0.2 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 71°F | 44°F | 57.6°F | 2.84 | 0.3 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 16 h |
| July | 82°F | 48°F | 64.9°F | 1.14 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 82°F | 46°F | 63.7°F | 0.76 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 70°F | 38°F | 54.3°F | 1.17 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 29°F | 41.6°F | 1.35 | 1.1 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 24°F | 31.4°F | 1.35 | 8.0 | 12 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 31°F | 17°F | 24.1°F | 1.50 | 15.9 | 14 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 31°F | 43.1°F | 16.76 | 54.4 | 132 | 14 | 187 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −9°C | −4.6°C | 36 mm | 35 cm |
| February | 2°C | −8°C | −2.9°C | 24 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.4°C | 28 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 34 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 18°C | 3°C | 10.9°C | 47 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 22°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| July | 28°C | 9°C | 18.3°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 8°C | 17.6°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 3°C | 12.4°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12°C | −2°C | 5.3°C | 34 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 4°C | −5°C | −0.3°C | 34 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −1°C | −8°C | −4.4°C | 38 mm | 40 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00244558; 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 Kalispell?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00244558.
When is the last frost in Kalispell?
In Kalispell, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 31 in half of years and after June 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 10 in half of years and before August 26 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- May 311 year in 10 after June 22; 9 in 10 after May 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 101 year in 10 before August 26; 9 in 10 before September 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 100 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 136 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 10 in half of springs and before September 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kalispell in zone 5b in ZIP code 59901, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Kalispell's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (30 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00244558; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Kalispell?
In a normal year in Kalispell, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 187 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 132 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 187a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 48high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 132a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in Kalispell's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1899) is 105°F, on August 4, 1961; the lowest is −38°F, on January 31, 1950.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 25.23 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 143.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00244558; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record FCAthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Kalispell, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 46°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 47°F; the driest air comes in December (18°F). April is the windiest month (6.9 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (82%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°F | 80% | 69% | 4.2 mph | – | – |
| February | 20°F | 73% | 56% | 5.5 mph | 36% | 48% |
| March | 27°F | 65% | 44% | 6.5 mph | 41% | 39% |
| April | 32°F | 58% | 37% | 6.9 mph | 48% | 30% |
| May | 42°F | 62% | 41% | 6.1 mph | 51% | 27% |
| June | 47°F | 60% | 37% | 5.4 mph | 67% | 15% |
| July | 47°F | 52% | 27% | 5.5 mph | 82% | 5% |
| August | 43°F | 56% | 30% | 5.0 mph | 70% | 13% |
| September | 37°F | 66% | 39% | 4.7 mph | 66% | 19% |
| October | 29°F | 76% | 57% | 4.3 mph | 42% | 45% |
| November | 22°F | 80% | 69% | 4.2 mph | – | – |
| December | 18°F | 82% | 75% | 4.0 mph | – | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USC00244558. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Kalispell?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Kalispell, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (50%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.1 |
| February | 62% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.1 |
| April | 65% | 4.4 |
| May | 68% | 5.5 |
| June | 69% | 6.0 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 65% | 2.4 |
| November | 53% | 1.2 |
| December | 50% | 0.8 |
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 Kalispell need?
A normal year in Kalispell brings 8,106 heating degree days, 51% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 143 cooling degree days, 84% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,425 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,282 | 0 |
| February | 1,070 | 0 |
| March | 944 | 0 |
| April | 668 | 0 |
| May | 417 | 1 |
| June | 234 | 12 |
| July | 75 | 72 |
| August | 95 | 55 |
| September | 324 | 4 |
| October | 725 | 0 |
| November | 1,007 | 0 |
| December | 1,268 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,106 | 143 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00244558. 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.
Has Kalispell been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.3°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.2°F | +2.1°F | 15.22 | 42.4 |
| 2022 | 42.4°F | −0.7°F | 16.81 | 45.7 |
| 2023 | 44.6°F | +1.5°F | 13.13 | 27.9 |
| 2024 | 45.5°F | +2.4°F | 17.20 | 44.4 |
| 2025 | 45.3°F | +2.2°F | 19.18 | 40.8 |
Over 120 complete years from 1898 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00244558; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Kalispell's climate compare?
Kalispell is warmer than 49 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 101. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.1°F is warmer than 12%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kalispell is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Kalispell share this climate record?
8 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Evergreen, MT8,908 people · 5 mi S
- Columbia Falls, MT5,713 people · 6 mi NE
- Marion, MT1,149 people · 24 mi SW
- Helena Flats, MT1,014 people · 2 mi SE
- Batavia, MT740 people · 11 mi SW
- Kila, MT406 people · 16 mi SW
- Little Bitterroot Lake, MT153 people · 24 mi SW
- Rhodes, MT63 people · 10 mi W
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 Kalispell's climate
What is the coldest month in Kalispell?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Kalispell?
Yes: 54 inches in a normal year, falling on 41 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (15.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Kalispell?
June, with 2.84 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.76 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kalispell in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kalispell in zone 5b in ZIP code 59901, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Kalispell's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Kalispell?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 31; in one year in ten it comes after June 22. Waiting until June 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kalispell in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Whitefish, MT9 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Creston, MT10 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Hungry Horse, MT11 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- West Glacier, MT19 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made