Mizpah, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Mizpah's primary NOAA station, MIZPAH 4 NNW.
The climate verdict for Mizpah
Dryness leads the climate profile for Mizpah, Montana, with 14.5 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 46°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 46°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 14.5"
- annual precipitation · 30" snow
- 116 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Mizpah: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00245754 · Mizpah, MT 46°F mean · 14.5" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,578
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Spencer
- PRCP-DRY 14.5"
- SWING-WIDE 54°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,541 HDD
- STN-1 USC00245754
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Spencer, IA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MT station list.
- Mizpah (this station) 46°F
- Cold New Ulm, MN 46°F
- Hot Spencer, IA 46°F
- Near Milford, IA 46°F
- Near Algona, IA 46°F
Mizpah sits in Montana, the #6 coldest U.S. state at 43.4°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Mizpah
Mizpah: 17/100 · grade F
Mizpah publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mizpah, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 29.9 inches/year | 38/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 14.5 in · 20.5 from 35 in | 26/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.1°F · 21.4° from 67.5°F | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 116 days/year | 5/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 232 calendar days | 1/100 · F |
Mizpah · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mizpah's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 73.5°F
- Coldest month
- 19.4°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Mizpah sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mizpah's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 77%
- Among 6,861 stations, Mizpah sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 84%
- Mizpah's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 91%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Mizpah is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mizpah compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mizpah's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Mizpah's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 53 complete annual observations from 1961 to 2025, MIZPAH 4 NNW warmed at a fitted rate of 0.28°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Mizpah primary station fitted change +0.28 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F (0°C) | 6°F (-14°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.4" | 5.6" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 5.0" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 50°F (10°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.7" | 5.4" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.6" | 2.2" | 16.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 71°F (22°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.9" | 0.8" | 5.8 | 0.6 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 4.7 |
| July | 91°F (33°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 18.1 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 17.6 |
| September | 79°F (26°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.3" | 0.1" | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.0" | 1.6" | 19.2 | 0.3 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.5" | 3.7" | 28.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 35°F (2°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.4" | 5.5" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Mizpah works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 94°F by July 28 and hold at or above 90°F on 42 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 190 dates, bottoming at 6°F around January 2.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 10 through August 20, covering 42 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 14 to October 2.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 19, then returns to freezing around October 13, covering 190 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is June 1, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 29 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 87 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 27 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 38°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mizpah.
Where Mizpah Stands Nationally
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 38°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 190 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Mizpah earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 5.6"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.4"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.2"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
10.5 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.6"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.7"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.5"
5.9 days with precipitation
Mizpah runs a summer-peaked wet season
35% of Mizpah's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is May at 2.9", on a wide 54.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: May, June, July, taking 48% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: December at 0.4".
- Winter share: 9% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Mizpah is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 87 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 24% of the calendar, and they carry 14.5" between them. At roughly 0.17 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is May at about 11 wet days; the driest is November at about 6.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Mizpah
Mizpah averages 29.9 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 23 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 29.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 23 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 21% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 15
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
116 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,541
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
682
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Mizpah on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (46°F here).
- Burlington, WI 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Cottonwood, SD 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Deaver, WY 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Dushore, PA 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (14.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cliff, NM 14.5" · 0.0" off
- Douglas, WY 14.5" · 0.0" off
- Northglenn, CO 14.5" · 0.0" off
- Escondido, CA 14.5" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Mizpah
heating led · dry · mid swing
Mizpah's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,541 annual heating degree days against 682 for cooling. Its 54.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 116 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Mizpah coldest normal
January
Averaging 19°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Mizpah typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Mizpah snow peak
January
Mizpah averages 29.9 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Mizpah's climate
How much snow does Mizpah get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Mizpah get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Mizpah? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mizpah's primary station: MIZPAH 4 NNW (USC00245754). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Mizpah; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Mizpah comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.