Loma, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Loma's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 12.8 inches of precipitation and 36 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 31°C, 325 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLoma
- Station IDUSC00245153
- Location47.94°N 110.50°W
- Elevation2,578 ft (786 m)
- Population (census place)90
On October 22, the normal high in Loma is 57°F and the normal low 27°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 Loma.
- Jan 34° 7°
- Feb 38° 10°
- Mar 49° 20°
- Apr 59° 30°
- May 69° 39°
- Jun 77° 48°
- Jul 88° 53°
- Aug 87° 51°
- Sep 76° 41°
- Oct 61° 30°
- Nov 46° 19°
- Dec 36° 10°
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 Loma each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.53 in), the least in February (0.37 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 7°F | 20.6°F | 0.53 | 8.4 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 38°F | 10°F | 24.3°F | 0.37 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 49°F | 20°F | 34.1°F | 0.50 | 5.0 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 30°F | 44.6°F | 1.37 | 1.9 | 8 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 69°F | 39°F | 54.1°F | 2.01 | 0.8 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 77°F | 48°F | 62.4°F | 2.53 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 88°F | 53°F | 70.1°F | 1.19 | 0.0 | 6 | 14 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 87°F | 51°F | 68.5°F | 1.17 | 0.0 | 5 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 76°F | 41°F | 58.4°F | 1.12 | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 61°F | 30°F | 45.1°F | 0.99 | 1.6 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 19°F | 32.4°F | 0.61 | 6.1 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 36°F | 10°F | 22.9°F | 0.40 | 7.1 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 30°F | 44.8°F | 12.79 | 36.3 | 76 | 33 | 187 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −14°C | −6.3°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
| February | 3°C | −12°C | −4.3°C | 9 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 9°C | −7°C | 1.2°C | 13 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 15°C | −1°C | 7.0°C | 35 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 21°C | 4°C | 12.3°C | 51 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 25°C | 9°C | 16.9°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 12°C | 21.2°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 10°C | 20.3°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 5°C | 14.7°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | −1°C | 7.3°C | 25 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 8°C | −7°C | 0.2°C | 15 mm | 15 cm |
| December | 2°C | −12°C | −5.1°C | 10 mm | 18 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245153; 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 Loma?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June 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 USC00245153.
When is the last frost in Loma?
In Loma, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 20 in half of years and after June 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 19 in half of years and before September 4 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 201 year in 10 after June 3; 9 in 10 after May 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 191 year in 10 before September 4; 9 in 10 before October 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 120 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 143 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 9 in half of springs and before September 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Loma in zone 4a in ZIP code 59442, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Loma's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°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 USC00245153; 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 Loma?
In a normal year in Loma, 33 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 187 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 76 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 33a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 187a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 43high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 76a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1950) is 111°F, on August 24, 1969; the lowest is −54°F, on January 14, 1972.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 23.01 in; the snowiest season is 1977–78, with 91.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00245153; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00245153. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Loma?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Loma, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 1.5 |
| February | 73% | 2.5 |
| March | 71% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.6 |
| July | 87% | 7.2 |
| August | 85% | 5.9 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 2.7 |
| November | 68% | 1.6 |
| December | 66% | 1.2 |
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 Loma need?
A normal year in Loma brings 7,741 heating degree days, 44% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 413 cooling degree days, 55% 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 2,123 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,375 | 0 |
| February | 1,141 | 0 |
| March | 958 | 0 |
| April | 611 | 0 |
| May | 344 | 6 |
| June | 122 | 44 |
| July | 25 | 185 |
| August | 46 | 154 |
| September | 221 | 23 |
| October | 618 | 1 |
| November | 977 | 0 |
| December | 1,305 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,741 | 413 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245153. 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 Loma been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.4°F, 2.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.8°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.9°F | +1.1°F | 11.20 | – |
| 2022 | 44.6°F | −0.2°F | 13.09 | – |
| 2023 | 47.4°F | +2.6°F | 12.03 | 23.7 |
Over 59 complete years from 1951 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00245153; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Loma's climate compare?
Loma is warmer than 87 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 28. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.8°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Loma 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.
Questions about Loma's climate
What is the coldest month in Loma?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Loma?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (8.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Loma?
June, with 2.53 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Loma in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Loma in zone 4a in ZIP code 59442, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Loma's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Loma?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 20; in one year in ten it comes after June 3. Waiting until June 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fort Benton, MT11 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Highwood, MT22 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Rudyard (19 mi S), MT24 miles from this station, 40.6°F a year
- Big Sandy, MT25 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made