Lake Yellowstone, WY 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 Lake Yellowstone's primary NOAA station, LAKE YELLOWSTONE.
The climate verdict for Lake Yellowstone
Lake Yellowstone, Wyoming has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 34°F. At 47/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 17% of scores.
- 34°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 47/100
- comfort score, above 17% of station-mapped location scores
- 22.5"
- annual precipitation · 199" snow
Lake Yellowstone: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00485345 · Lake Yellowstone, WY 34°F mean · 22.5" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 34°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Cooke City
- PRCP-DRY 22.5"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-LOW 47/100
- LOAD-HEAT 11,354 HDD
- STN-1 USC00485345
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Cooke City, MT (+ 0.4 °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 WY station list.
- Lake Yellowstone (this station) 34°F
- Hot Electric Lake, UT 34°F
- Near Cooke City, MT 34°F
- Near Crested Butte, CO 34°F
- Near Kenai, AK 34°F
Lake Yellowstone sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Lake Yellowstone
Lake Yellowstone: 11/100 · grade F
Lake Yellowstone publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lake Yellowstone, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 47/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 22.5 in · 12.5 from 35 in | 56/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 33.8°F · 33.7° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 244 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 199.4 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Lake Yellowstone · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lake Yellowstone is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 13.3°F and warmest-month mean 56.9°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 56.9°F
- Coldest month
- 13.3°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 Lake Yellowstone sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lake Yellowstone's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Lake Yellowstone sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 31st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 51st percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lake Yellowstone compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lake Yellowstone's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
47 17th percentile score exceeds 17% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Lake Yellowstone's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 38 complete annual observations from 1909 to 2021, LAKE YELLOWSTONE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.11°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Lake Yellowstone primary station fitted change +0.11 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F (-5°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 2.0" | 35.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 27°F (-3°C) | 4°F (-16°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 1.8" | 30.9" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 35°F (2°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 2.0" | 25.1" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 42°F (5°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 2.1" | 22.9" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 2.4" | 6.9" | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| June | 61°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 2.5" | 1.0" | 11.6 | 0.0 |
| July | 71°F (22°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 2.5 | 0.1 |
| August | 71°F (22°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 3.2 | 0.0 |
| September | 61°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.6" | 1.4" | 16.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 46°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.6" | 10.2" | 28.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 33°F (0°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 1.8" | 29.8" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 24°F (-5°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 2.0" | 35.4" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 74°F around July 27, short of 90°F on every date, while 244 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 2°F near January 30.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 25, then returns to freezing around September 25, covering 244 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 January 3, when 56% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 7 at 29%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 151 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 27 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Lake Yellowstone.
Where Lake Yellowstone Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 244 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Lake Yellowstone 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 and snowfall
Snow: 35.8"
17.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 30.9"
15.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 25.1"
13.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 22.9"
12.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.9"
11.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
13.4 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.4"
9.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.2"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 29.8"
12.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 35.4"
16.5 days with precipitation
Lake Yellowstone spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 23% of the annual total and December through February 26%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lake Yellowstone has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 2.5" and July 1.3". The three wettest months together take 31% 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.
Rain reaches Lake Yellowstone in small, frequent amounts
Lake Yellowstone records about 151 days with measurable precipitation a year and 22.5" in total, which works out to roughly 0.15 inches on an average wet day. Precipitation on 41% of all days, arriving that lightly, is the damp many-grey-days pattern rather than the storm-driven one.
Places in this band read as wetter than their annual totals suggest, because what people notice is the number of overcast days, not the depth in the gauge.
- Most wet days: January, about 17 of them.
- Fewest: October, about 9.
- Average depth per wet day: 0.15 inches.
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.
Winter brings real snow to Lake Yellowstone
Lake Yellowstone averages 199.4 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 92 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 199.4 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 92 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 88% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
11,354
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
5
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Lake Yellowstone 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 (34°F here).
- Soldotna, AK 34°F · 0.3°F off
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 0.4°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 0.4°F off
- Kenai, AK 34°F · 0.4°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (22.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Monument, CO 22.5" · 0.0" off
- Culbertson, NE 22.5" · 0.0" off
- Deer Park, WA 22.5" · 0.0" off
- Lipscomb, TX 22.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Lake Yellowstone
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Lake Yellowstone's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 11,354 annual heating degree days against 5 for cooling. Its 43.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Lake Yellowstone. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
-
1. Lake Yellowstone coldest normal
January
Averaging 13°F (-10°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Lake Yellowstone typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Lake Yellowstone snow peak
January
Lake Yellowstone averages 199.4 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Lake Yellowstone's climate
How much snow does Lake Yellowstone get? ▼
How cold does Lake Yellowstone get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lake Yellowstone? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lake Yellowstone's primary station: LAKE YELLOWSTONE (USC00485345). 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 Lake Yellowstone; 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 Lake Yellowstone 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.