Livingston, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Livingston's normal year runs from 19°F December nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 14.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.4°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 370 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLivingston Mission Field
- Station IDUSW00024150
- Location45.70°N 110.44°W
- Elevation4,643 ft (1,415 m)
- Population9,021
On October 23, the normal high in Livingston is 55°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Livingston.
- Jan 37° 19°
- Feb 39° 19°
- Mar 48° 24°
- Apr 54° 30°
- May 64° 38°
- Jun 74° 45°
- Jul 86° 50°
- Aug 85° 48°
- Sep 74° 41°
- Oct 58° 33°
- Nov 45° 25°
- Dec 36° 19°
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 Livingston each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.66 in), the least in January (0.44 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 19°F | 28.1°F | 0.44 | 6 | <1 | 25 | 9 h |
| February | 39°F | 19°F | 28.9°F | 0.47 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 48°F | 24°F | 36.1°F | 0.79 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 30°F | 42.2°F | 1.71 | 12 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 38°F | 51.0°F | 2.66 | 14 | <1 | 7 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 74°F | 45°F | 59.3°F | 2.42 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 50°F | 67.9°F | 1.31 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 48°F | 66.5°F | 1.07 | 8 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 74°F | 41°F | 57.3°F | 1.20 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 33°F | 45.5°F | 1.36 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 45°F | 25°F | 35.1°F | 0.62 | 7 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 36°F | 19°F | 27.6°F | 0.50 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 33°F | 45.4°F | 14.55 | 106 | 28 | 162 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −7°C | −2.2°C | 11 mm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.7°C | 12 mm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.3°C | 20 mm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.7°C | 43 mm |
| May | 18°C | 3°C | 10.6°C | 68 mm |
| June | 23°C | 7°C | 15.2°C | 61 mm |
| July | 30°C | 10°C | 19.9°C | 33 mm |
| August | 29°C | 9°C | 19.2°C | 27 mm |
| September | 23°C | 5°C | 14.1°C | 30 mm |
| October | 15°C | 0°C | 7.5°C | 35 mm |
| November | 7°C | −4°C | 1.7°C | 16 mm |
| December | 2°C | −7°C | −2.4°C | 13 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Livingston's own co-op station Livingston (12 mi S) does: 63 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00024150; 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 Livingston?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USW00024150.
When is the last frost in Livingston?
In Livingston, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 27 in half of years and after June 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 14 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
- May 271 year in 10 after June 14; 9 in 10 after May 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 141 year in 10 before August 27; 9 in 10 before September 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 108 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 135 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before September 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Livingston in zone 5a in ZIP code 59047, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Livingston's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (28 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 USW00024150; 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 Livingston?
In a normal year in Livingston, 28 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 162 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 106 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 162a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 106a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 105°F, on July 12, 2026; the lowest is −41°F, on December 24, 1983.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 22.87 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 100.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00024150; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00024150. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Livingston?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Livingston, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.7 |
| February | 73% | 2.8 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 66% | 4.8 |
| May | 67% | 5.6 |
| June | 75% | 6.6 |
| July | 84% | 7.2 |
| August | 83% | 6.1 |
| September | 79% | 4.6 |
| October | 69% | 2.9 |
| November | 66% | 1.8 |
| December | 63% | 1.3 |
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 Livingston need?
A normal year in Livingston brings 7,375 heating degree days, 37% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 278 cooling degree days, 69% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,839 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,144 | 0 |
| February | 1,011 | 0 |
| March | 898 | 0 |
| April | 684 | 0 |
| May | 435 | 1 |
| June | 193 | 22 |
| July | 39 | 130 |
| August | 58 | 103 |
| September | 250 | 20 |
| October | 608 | 2 |
| November | 897 | 0 |
| December | 1,159 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,375 | 278 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00024150. 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 Livingston been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.0°F | +1.6°F | 11.62 |
| 2022 | 45.4°F | at normal | 14.13 |
| 2023 | 46.6°F | +1.2°F | 14.93 |
| 2024 | 47.9°F | +2.5°F | 13.15 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +0.7°F | 13.83 |
Over 67 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.0°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00024150; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Livingston's climate compare?
Livingston is warmer than 101 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 59. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.4°F is warmer than 21%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Livingston 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 Livingston share this climate record?
3 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.
- Pine Creek, MT182 people · 15 mi SW
- Wineglass, MT181 people · 10 mi SW
- Springdale, MT20 people · 11 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.
What do Livingston's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Livingston. This page uses Livingston Mission Field; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livingston (12 mi S) USC00245080 | 15 mi S | 5,044 ft | 45.6°F | 20°F | 82°F | 16.3 | 63 | May 19 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Livingston's climate
What is the coldest month in Livingston?
December, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Livingston?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Livingston's NOAA station; Livingston's own co-op station Livingston (12 mi S) records 63 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Livingston?
May, with 2.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.44 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Livingston in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Livingston in zone 5a in ZIP code 59047, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Livingston's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Livingston?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 27; in one year in ten it comes after June 14. Waiting until June 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Wilsall, MT22 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Big Timber, MT25 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Melville (4 mi W), MT34 miles from this station, 40.4°F a year
- Bozeman, MT35 miles from this station, 42.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made