Montague, Michigan climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Montague's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 35.2 inches of precipitation and 69 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 26°C, 894 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMontague (4 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00205567
- Location43.46°N 86.42°W
- Elevation650 ft (198 m)
- Population2,425
On October 23, the normal high in Montague is 55°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Montague.
- Jan 30° 19°
- Feb 32° 19°
- Mar 42° 25°
- Apr 55° 34°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 75° 53°
- Jul 79° 58°
- Aug 78° 57°
- Sep 72° 51°
- Oct 59° 41°
- Nov 45° 32°
- Dec 35° 25°
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 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in October (4.06 in), the least in February (1.37 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 19°F | 24.4°F | 2.60 | 26.0 | 10 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 19°F | 25.6°F | 1.37 | 13.8 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 42°F | 25°F | 33.6°F | 2.28 | 6.7 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 3.84 | 1.7 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.1°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 75°F | 53°F | 64.4°F | 3.32 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 79°F | 58°F | 68.7°F | 2.98 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 78°F | 57°F | 67.6°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 51°F | 61.2°F | 3.18 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 59°F | 41°F | 50.0°F | 4.06 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 32°F | 38.9°F | 3.15 | 4.7 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 35°F | 25°F | 29.7°F | 1.77 | 15.9 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 38°F | 47.0°F | 35.19 | 68.9 | 110 | 2 | 145 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −7°C | −4.2°C | 66 mm | 66 cm |
| February | 0°C | −7°C | −3.6°C | 35 mm | 35 cm |
| March | 6°C | −4°C | 0.9°C | 58 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 98 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 19°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 12°C | 18.0°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 19.8°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 5°C | 10.0°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | 0°C | 3.8°C | 80 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 2°C | −4°C | −1.3°C | 45 mm | 40 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00205567; 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, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00205567.
When is the last frost in Montague?
In Montague, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 19 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 16 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 191 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 16; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 136 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Montague in zone 6b in ZIP code 49461, 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 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 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 Michigan · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00205567; 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, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 145 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 110 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 145a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 50high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 110a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 29a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 98°F, on June 17, 1957; the lowest is −27°F, on February 4, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1965, with 43.73 in; the snowiest season is 1964–65, with 158.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00205567; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00205567. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Montague?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Montague, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (46%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 47% | 1.2 |
| February | 55% | 2.1 |
| March | 66% | 3.5 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 81% | 6.3 |
| August | 80% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 65% | 2.6 |
| November | 57% | 1.6 |
| December | 46% | 1.0 |
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 6,941 heating degree days, 29% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 400 cooling degree days, 56% 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 2,270 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,259 | 0 |
| February | 1,103 | 0 |
| March | 975 | 0 |
| April | 610 | 1 |
| May | 323 | 16 |
| June | 93 | 73 |
| July | 31 | 144 |
| August | 38 | 117 |
| September | 160 | 45 |
| October | 471 | 4 |
| November | 785 | 0 |
| December | 1,094 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,941 | 400 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00205567. 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 48.5°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.0°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.1°F | +2.1°F | 29.30 | 52.6 |
| 2022 | 47.6°F | +0.6°F | 38.08 | 86.9 |
| 2023 | 49.2°F | +2.2°F | 38.03 | – |
| 2025 | 48.5°F | +1.5°F | – | 112.2 |
Over 44 complete years from 1951 to 2025, 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 USC00205567; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Montague's climate compare?
Montague is warmer than 73 of the other 139 places with their own NOAA record in Michigan, and wetter than 85. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.0°F is warmer than 28%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Montague is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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?
4 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.
- Whitehall, MI3,130 people · 6 mi SE
- Lakewood Club, MI1,334 people · 10 mi SE
- New Era, MI462 people · 8 mi NE
- Rothbury, MI450 people · 5 mi NE
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?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Montague?
Yes: 69 inches in a normal year, falling on 30 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (26.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Montague?
October, with 4.06 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Montague in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Montague in zone 6b in ZIP code 49461, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Montague's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Montague?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 19; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Michigan climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hart, MI15 miles from this station, 46.3°F a year
- Hesperia, MI18 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Fremont, MI20 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Muskegon, MI22 miles from this station, 49.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made