Lima, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lima's normal year runs from 11°F December nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 10.3 inches of precipitation and 53 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.3°C, December lows of −11°C, July highs of 28°C, 263 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLima
- Station IDUSC00245030
- Location44.63°N 112.59°W
- Elevation6,279 ft (1,914 m)
- Population220
On October 22, the normal high in Lima is 53°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lima.
- Jan 30° 11°
- Feb 34° 12°
- Mar 44° 21°
- Apr 53° 27°
- May 62° 35°
- Jun 72° 42°
- Jul 83° 47°
- Aug 81° 46°
- Sep 71° 39°
- Oct 56° 29°
- Nov 41° 19°
- Dec 30° 11°
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 Lima each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in June (1.99 in), the least in January (0.24 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 11°F | 20.6°F | 0.24 | 6.0 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 34°F | 12°F | 22.8°F | 0.25 | 5.1 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 44°F | 21°F | 32.2°F | 0.40 | 6.8 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 27°F | 39.9°F | 0.93 | 10.1 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 62°F | 35°F | 48.7°F | 1.66 | 4.7 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 72°F | 42°F | 56.7°F | 1.99 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 83°F | 47°F | 64.9°F | 1.27 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 46°F | 63.5°F | 1.02 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 39°F | 55.0°F | 0.92 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 9 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 29°F | 42.8°F | 0.98 | 6.7 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 19°F | 30.1°F | 0.41 | 5.8 | 3 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 30°F | 11°F | 20.5°F | 0.28 | 5.7 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 28°F | 41.5°F | 10.35 | 52.6 | 67 | 5 | 226 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.3°C | 6 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 1°C | −11°C | −5.1°C | 6 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.1°C | 10 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 12°C | −3°C | 4.4°C | 24 mm | 26 cm |
| May | 17°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 42 mm | 12 cm |
| June | 22°C | 5°C | 13.7°C | 51 mm | 3 cm |
| July | 28°C | 8°C | 18.3°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 8°C | 17.5°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 4°C | 12.8°C | 23 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 14°C | −2°C | 6.0°C | 25 mm | 17 cm |
| November | 5°C | −7°C | −1.1°C | 10 mm | 15 cm |
| December | −1°C | −11°C | −6.4°C | 7 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245030; 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 Lima?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00245030.
When is the last frost in Lima?
In Lima, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 11 in half of years and after June 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 10 in half of years and before August 27 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
- June 111 year in 10 after June 30; 9 in 10 after May 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 101 year in 10 before August 27; 9 in 10 before September 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 89 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 121 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 21 in half of springs and before September 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lima in zone 5a in ZIP code 59724, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lima's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (20 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 USC00245030; 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 Lima?
In a normal year in Lima, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 226 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 67 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 226a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 65high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 67a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1898) is 100°F, on July 31, 1901; the lowest is −44°F, on January 18, 1943.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 17.17 in; the snowiest season is 1982–83, with 103.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00245030; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00245030. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lima?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lima, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 72% | 2.9 |
| March | 72% | 4.0 |
| April | 71% | 5.2 |
| May | 72% | 6.1 |
| June | 78% | 7.0 |
| July | 85% | 7.3 |
| August | 85% | 6.3 |
| September | 82% | 4.9 |
| October | 75% | 3.2 |
| November | 68% | 2.0 |
| December | 64% | 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 Lima need?
A normal year in Lima brings 8,680 heating degree days, 62% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 134 cooling degree days, 85% 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 1,426 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,376 | 0 |
| February | 1,182 | 0 |
| March | 1,017 | 0 |
| April | 755 | 0 |
| May | 504 | 1 |
| June | 260 | 11 |
| July | 72 | 71 |
| August | 92 | 45 |
| September | 306 | 6 |
| October | 688 | 0 |
| November | 1,049 | 0 |
| December | 1,379 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,680 | 134 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245030. 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 Lima's climate compare?
Lima is warmer than 23 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 3. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.5°F is warmer than 8%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lima is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Lima share this climate record?
Dell 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.
- Dell, MT33 people · 8 mi NW
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 Lima's climate
What is the coldest month in Lima?
December, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 47°F at night).
Does it snow in Lima?
Yes: 53 inches in a normal year, falling on 26 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (10.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lima?
June, with 1.99 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lima in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lima in zone 5a in ZIP code 59724, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lima's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Lima?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 11; in one year in ten it comes after June 30. Waiting until June 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Small (6 mi N), ID25 miles from this station, 42.5°F a year
- Dubois, ID33 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Leadore, ID38 miles from this station, 39.1°F a year
- Lakeview, MT39 miles from this station, 36.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made