Malta, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Malta's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 13.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.2°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 30°C, 339 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMalta
- Station IDUSC00245334
- Location48.36°N 107.87°W
- Elevation2,262 ft (690 m)
- Population1,853
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Malta.
- Jan 29° 7°
- Feb 32° 11°
- Mar 45° 21°
- Apr 59° 33°
- May 69° 42°
- Jun 77° 52°
- Jul 86° 57°
- Aug 86° 56°
- Sep 74° 46°
- Oct 59° 33°
- Nov 43° 20°
- Dec 31° 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 Malta each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.68 in), the least in January (0.36 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 7°F | 17.6°F | 0.36 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 32°F | 11°F | 21.5°F | 0.37 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 45°F | 21°F | 33.0°F | 0.51 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 33°F | 45.9°F | 1.27 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 69°F | 42°F | 55.6°F | 1.72 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 77°F | 52°F | 64.3°F | 2.68 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 86°F | 57°F | 71.9°F | 1.58 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 56°F | 70.7°F | 1.27 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 74°F | 46°F | 60.0°F | 1.41 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 33°F | 46.3°F | 1.03 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 20°F | 31.8°F | 0.69 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 31°F | 10°F | 20.8°F | 0.46 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 32°F | 44.9°F | 13.35 | 83 | 30 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −14°C | −8.0°C | 9 mm |
| February | 0°C | −12°C | −5.8°C | 9 mm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.6°C | 13 mm |
| April | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 32 mm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 44 mm |
| June | 25°C | 11°C | 17.9°C | 68 mm |
| July | 30°C | 14°C | 22.2°C | 40 mm |
| August | 30°C | 13°C | 21.5°C | 32 mm |
| September | 24°C | 8°C | 15.6°C | 36 mm |
| October | 15°C | 1°C | 7.9°C | 26 mm |
| November | 6°C | −6°C | −0.1°C | 18 mm |
| December | 0°C | −12°C | −6.2°C | 12 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245334; 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 Malta?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June 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 USC00245334.
When is the last frost in Malta?
In Malta, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 29 in half of years and before September 17 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 101 year in 10 after May 22; 9 in 10 after April 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 291 year in 10 before September 17; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 139 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 160 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Malta in zone 4a in ZIP code 59538, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00245334; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Malta?
In a normal year in Malta, 30 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 83 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 30a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 58high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 83a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00245334.
How sunny is Malta?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Malta, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.5 |
| February | 78% | 2.6 |
| March | 75% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 77% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 85% | 5.7 |
| September | 79% | 4.2 |
| October | 75% | 2.7 |
| November | 72% | 1.6 |
| December | 68% | 1.1 |
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 Malta need?
A normal year in Malta brings 7,826 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 553 cooling degree days, 39% 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 2,412 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,469 | 0 |
| February | 1,218 | 0 |
| March | 992 | 0 |
| April | 574 | 1 |
| May | 305 | 13 |
| June | 88 | 69 |
| July | 12 | 224 |
| August | 28 | 203 |
| September | 193 | 41 |
| October | 582 | 3 |
| November | 995 | 0 |
| December | 1,372 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,826 | 553 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245334. 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 Malta been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 46.6°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.9°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.9°F | +2.0°F | 9.14 |
| 2023 | 45.6°F | +0.7°F | 13.83 |
| 2024 | 46.6°F | +1.7°F | 14.25 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00245334. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Malta's climate compare?
Malta is warmer than 89 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.9°F is warmer than 19%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Malta 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 Malta share this climate record?
2 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.
- Dodson, MT126 people · 17 mi W
- East Malta Colony, MT0 people · 12 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 Malta's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Malta. This page uses Malta; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malta (7 mi E) USC00245338 | 7 mi E | 2,231 ft | 45.1°F | 6°F | 87°F | 13.3 | – | May 7 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Malta's climate
What is the coldest month in Malta?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 57°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Malta?
June, with 2.68 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.36 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Malta in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Malta in zone 4a in ZIP code 59538, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Malta?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; in one year in ten it comes after May 22. Waiting until May 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Saco, MT25 miles from this station, 42.0°F a year
- Content (4 mi NNE), MT25 miles from this station, 42.4°F a year
- Hinsdale, MT33 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Malta (35 mi S), MT36 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made