Melstone, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Melstone's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 15.5 inches of precipitation and 43 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.4°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 31°C, 393 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMelstone
- Station IDUSC00245596
- Location46.60°N 107.87°W
- Elevation2,932 ft (894 m)
- Population147
On October 23, the normal high in Melstone is 56°F and the normal low 32°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 Melstone.
- Jan 35° 14°
- Feb 38° 17°
- Mar 49° 25°
- Apr 59° 33°
- May 68° 42°
- Jun 78° 51°
- Jul 88° 58°
- Aug 87° 56°
- Sep 76° 46°
- Oct 60° 35°
- Nov 46° 25°
- Dec 36° 16°
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 Melstone each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.92 in), the least in February (0.44 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 14°F | 24.6°F | 0.51 | 8.7 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h |
| February | 38°F | 17°F | 27.4°F | 0.44 | 6.5 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 49°F | 25°F | 36.6°F | 0.77 | 6.9 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 33°F | 45.9°F | 1.80 | 3.6 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 42°F | 55.1°F | 2.92 | 1.0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 15 h |
| June | 78°F | 51°F | 64.4°F | 2.77 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 88°F | 58°F | 72.6°F | 1.54 | 0.0 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 56°F | 71.1°F | 1.10 | 0.0 | 5 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 76°F | 46°F | 60.8°F | 1.18 | 0.1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 60°F | 35°F | 47.3°F | 1.32 | 2.5 | 6 | <1 | 11 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 25°F | 35.1°F | 0.59 | 5.6 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 36°F | 16°F | 26.0°F | 0.53 | 8.0 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 35°F | 47.2°F | 15.47 | 42.9 | 78 | 41 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −4.1°C | 13 mm | 22 cm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 11 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 20 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 46 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 74 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 25°C | 11°C | 18.0°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 14°C | 22.6°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 13°C | 21.7°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 8°C | 16.0°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 8.5°C | 34 mm | 6 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.7°C | 15 mm | 14 cm |
| December | 2°C | −9°C | −3.3°C | 13 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245596; 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 Melstone?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00245596.
When is the last frost in Melstone?
In Melstone, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 29 in half of years and before September 14 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 23; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 291 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 141 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 162 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 29 in half of springs and before October 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Melstone in zone 4b in ZIP code 59054, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Melstone's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00245596; 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 Melstone?
In a normal year in Melstone, 41 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 41a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 36high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 111°F, on July 15, 2002; the lowest is −43°F, on January 20, 1954.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1915, with 21.29 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 89.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00245596; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00245596. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Melstone?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Melstone, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 1.6 |
| February | 73% | 2.6 |
| March | 70% | 3.6 |
| April | 71% | 4.9 |
| May | 74% | 6.0 |
| June | 80% | 6.8 |
| July | 89% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.0 |
| September | 81% | 4.4 |
| October | 74% | 2.9 |
| November | 73% | 1.8 |
| December | 66% | 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 Melstone need?
A normal year in Melstone brings 7,039 heating degree days, 31% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 601 cooling degree days, 34% 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 2,487 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,252 | 0 |
| February | 1,054 | 0 |
| March | 879 | 0 |
| April | 572 | 0 |
| May | 318 | 11 |
| June | 91 | 73 |
| July | 15 | 248 |
| August | 26 | 217 |
| September | 176 | 48 |
| October | 551 | 3 |
| November | 896 | 0 |
| December | 1,210 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,039 | 601 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00245596. 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 Melstone been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 50.5°F, 3.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.2°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.3°F | +2.1°F | 7.57 | – |
| 2023 | 49.1°F | +1.9°F | 15.15 | – |
| 2024 | 50.5°F | +3.3°F | 13.28 | – |
Over 59 complete years from 1914 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00245596; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Melstone's climate compare?
Melstone is warmer than 131 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 82. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.2°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Melstone 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 Melstone share this climate record?
Musselshell 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.
- Musselshell, MT34 people · 13 mi SW
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 Melstone's climate
What is the coldest month in Melstone?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Melstone?
Yes: 43 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (8.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Melstone?
May, with 2.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.44 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Melstone in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Melstone in zone 4b in ZIP code 59054, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Melstone's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Melstone?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Flatwillow (4 mi ENE), MT28 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Pompeys Pillar (15 mi N), MT29 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- Mosby (4 mi ENE), MT29 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Ingomar (9 mi E), MT32 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made