Montague, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Montague's normal year runs from 26°F December nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 12.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.6°C, December lows of −3°C, July highs of 34°C, 305 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMontague Siskiyou County Airport
- Station IDUSW00024259
- Location41.78°N 122.47°W
- Elevation2,635 ft (803 m)
- Population1,170
On October 14, the normal high in Montague is 71°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Montague.
- Jan 47° 26°
- Feb 53° 27°
- Mar 58° 31°
- Apr 64° 34°
- May 74° 41°
- Jun 83° 47°
- Jul 93° 55°
- Aug 92° 53°
- Sep 84° 45°
- Oct 70° 36°
- Nov 54° 30°
- Dec 46° 26°
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 Montague each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in December (2.25 in), the least in July (0.16 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 26°F | 36.7°F | 1.43 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 53°F | 27°F | 39.8°F | 1.41 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 58°F | 31°F | 44.4°F | 1.25 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 34°F | 48.9°F | 1.07 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 74°F | 41°F | 57.2°F | 1.05 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 83°F | 47°F | 64.9°F | 0.56 | 4 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 93°F | 55°F | 74.0°F | 0.16 | 2 | 23 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 92°F | 53°F | 72.4°F | 0.34 | 1 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 84°F | 45°F | 64.9°F | 0.27 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 36°F | 52.8°F | 0.86 | 5 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 30°F | 41.9°F | 1.34 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 46°F | 26°F | 35.8°F | 2.25 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 38°F | 52.8°F | 11.99 | 80 | 65 | 137 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −3°C | 2.6°C | 36 mm |
| February | 11°C | −3°C | 4.3°C | 36 mm |
| March | 15°C | −1°C | 6.9°C | 32 mm |
| April | 18°C | 1°C | 9.4°C | 27 mm |
| May | 23°C | 5°C | 14.0°C | 27 mm |
| June | 28°C | 8°C | 18.3°C | 14 mm |
| July | 34°C | 13°C | 23.3°C | 4 mm |
| August | 33°C | 11°C | 22.4°C | 9 mm |
| September | 29°C | 7°C | 18.3°C | 7 mm |
| October | 21°C | 2°C | 11.6°C | 22 mm |
| November | 12°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 34 mm |
| December | 8°C | −3°C | 2.1°C | 57 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Yreka (10 miles away), gets 12 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00024259; 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 Montague?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USW00024259.
When is the last frost in Montague?
In Montague, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 24 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 121 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after April 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 148 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Montague in zone 8a in ZIP code 96097, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Montague's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (19 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 California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00024259; 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 Montague?
In a normal year in Montague, 65 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 137 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 65a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 137a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 111°F, on July 29, 2022; the lowest is −14°F, on January 6, 2017.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 18.44 in; the snowiest season is 1949–50, with 27.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00024259; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00024259. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Montague?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Montague, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (64%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.9 |
| February | 71% | 2.9 |
| March | 71% | 4.0 |
| April | 76% | 5.6 |
| May | 81% | 6.9 |
| June | 89% | 8.0 |
| July | 94% | 8.1 |
| August | 94% | 7.1 |
| September | 92% | 5.7 |
| October | 85% | 3.8 |
| November | 72% | 2.3 |
| December | 64% | 1.6 |
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 Montague need?
A normal year in Montague brings 5,126 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 705 cooling degree days, 22% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,804 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 877 | 0 |
| February | 706 | 0 |
| March | 639 | 0 |
| April | 483 | 0 |
| May | 258 | 17 |
| June | 88 | 85 |
| July | 4 | 281 |
| August | 6 | 235 |
| September | 85 | 82 |
| October | 382 | 4 |
| November | 693 | 0 |
| December | 905 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,126 | 705 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00024259. 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 Montague been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.9°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.8°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.2°F | +1.4°F | 6.54 |
| 2022 | 53.9°F | +1.1°F | 5.63 |
| 2023 | 53.4°F | +0.6°F | 9.11 |
| 2024 | 54.2°F | +1.4°F | – |
| 2025 | 52.9°F | +0.1°F | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00024259. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Montague's climate compare?
Montague is warmer than 31 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 62. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.8°F is warmer than 53%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Montague is Csa: temperate, dry-summer, hot summer. 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 Montague share this climate record?
Hornbrook 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.
- Hornbrook, CA341 people · 10 mi NW
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 Montague's climate
What is the coldest month in Montague?
December, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Montague?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Montague's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Yreka (10 miles away), records 12 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Montague?
December, with 2.25 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.16 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Montague in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Montague in zone 8a in ZIP code 96097, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Montague's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Montague?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Yreka, CA11 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Copco #1 Dam, CA16 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Howard Prairie Dam, OR31 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Mount Shasta, CA32 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made