Montauk, New York climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Montauk's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 44.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.7°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 27°C, 1,125 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMontauk Airport
- Station IDUSW00054780
- Location41.07°N 71.92°W
- Elevation7 ft (2 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population (census place)4,073
On October 23, the normal high in Montauk is 61°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 34%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Montauk.
- Jan 40° 28°
- Feb 41° 28°
- Mar 46° 33°
- Apr 55° 41°
- May 64° 50°
- Jun 74° 60°
- Jul 80° 66°
- Aug 80° 66°
- Sep 73° 60°
- Oct 63° 51°
- Nov 54° 42°
- Dec 45° 34°
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 Montauk each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in December (4.35 in), the least in July (2.81 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 28°F | 33.7°F | 3.63 | 12 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 41°F | 28°F | 34.3°F | 3.20 | 10 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 46°F | 33°F | 39.5°F | 4.18 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 41°F | 48.1°F | 3.66 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 64°F | 50°F | 57.0°F | 3.19 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 74°F | 60°F | 66.9°F | 3.50 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 80°F | 66°F | 73.2°F | 2.81 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 80°F | 66°F | 72.9°F | 4.02 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 73°F | 60°F | 66.7°F | 3.64 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 51°F | 57.1°F | 4.22 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 42°F | 47.6°F | 3.91 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 10 h |
| December | 45°F | 34°F | 39.4°F | 4.35 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 47°F | 53.0°F | 44.31 | 125 | 3 | 74 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −2°C | 0.9°C | 92 mm |
| February | 5°C | −2°C | 1.3°C | 81 mm |
| March | 8°C | 1°C | 4.2°C | 106 mm |
| April | 13°C | 5°C | 8.9°C | 93 mm |
| May | 18°C | 10°C | 13.9°C | 81 mm |
| June | 23°C | 15°C | 19.4°C | 89 mm |
| July | 27°C | 19°C | 22.9°C | 71 mm |
| August | 26°C | 19°C | 22.7°C | 102 mm |
| September | 23°C | 16°C | 19.3°C | 92 mm |
| October | 17°C | 11°C | 13.9°C | 107 mm |
| November | 12°C | 5°C | 8.7°C | 99 mm |
| December | 7°C | 1°C | 4.1°C | 110 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Groton station (20 miles away), gets 25 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00054780; 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 Montauk?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USW00054780.
When is the last frost in Montauk?
In Montauk, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 15 in half of years and before November 2 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
- April 71 year in 10 after April 20; 9 in 10 after March 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 151 year in 10 before November 2; 9 in 10 before November 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 222 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 247 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 26 in half of springs and before November 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Montauk in zone 7b in ZIP code 11954. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Montauk's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New York · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00054780; 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 Montauk?
In a normal year in Montauk, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 74 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 125 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 74a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 125a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00054780.
How sunny is Montauk?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Montauk, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.9 |
| February | 71% | 2.7 |
| March | 71% | 3.8 |
| April | 72% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.6 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 81% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.5 |
| October | 72% | 3.0 |
| November | 71% | 2.1 |
| December | 67% | 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 Montauk need?
A normal year in Montauk brings 5,041 heating degree days, 6% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 715 cooling degree days, 21% fewer than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,013 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 972 | 0 |
| February | 860 | 0 |
| March | 791 | 0 |
| April | 508 | 1 |
| May | 255 | 7 |
| June | 43 | 99 |
| July | 1 | 257 |
| August | 2 | 246 |
| September | 42 | 95 |
| October | 253 | 10 |
| November | 524 | 0 |
| December | 792 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,041 | 715 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00054780. 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 Montauk been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 55.8°F, 2.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.0°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.9°F | +1.9°F | 44.64 |
| 2022 | 54.2°F | +1.2°F | 40.76 |
| 2023 | 55.8°F | +2.8°F | 44.38 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00054780. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Montauk's climate compare?
Montauk is warmer than 118 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in New York, and wetter than 71. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.0°F is warmer than 54%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Montauk is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, 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 Montauk share this climate record?
Napeague 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.
- Napeague, NY197 people · 9 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 Montauk's climate
What is the coldest month in Montauk?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Montauk?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Montauk's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Groton station (20 miles away), records 25 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Montauk?
December, with 4.35 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 2.81 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Montauk in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Montauk in zone 7b in ZIP code 11954. By the same method at Montauk's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 10°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Montauk?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 20. Waiting until April 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New York climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Orient, NY18 miles from this station, 53.0°F a year
- Groton, CT19 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Westerly, RI20 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Bridgehampton, NY21 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made