Moorhead, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Moorhead's primary NOAA station, MOORHEAD 9 NE.
The climate verdict for Moorhead
Dryness leads the climate profile for Moorhead, Montana, with 13.1 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
- 13.1"
- annual precipitation · 29" snow
- 128 days
- frost-free growing season
Moorhead: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00245870 · Moorhead, MT 46°F mean · 13.1" 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 #1,647
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Roosevelt Radio
- PRCP-DRY 13.1"
- SWING-WIDE 49°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,334 HDD
- STN-1 USC00245870
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Roosevelt Radio, UT (+ 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.
- Moorhead (this station) 46°F
- Cold Richfield, ID 46°F
- Hot Hustisford Wwtp, WI 46°F
- Near Roosevelt Radio, UT 46°F
- Near Vergennes, VT 46°F
Moorhead 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 · Moorhead
Moorhead: 21/100 · grade F
Moorhead publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Moorhead, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 29.0 inches/year | 39/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.2°F · 21.3° from 67.5°F | 24/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 13.1 in · 21.9 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 200 calendar days | 14/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 128 days/year | 11/100 · F |
Moorhead · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Moorhead'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
- 71.9°F
- Coldest month
- 23.1°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 Moorhead sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Moorhead's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 76%
- Among 6,861 stations, Moorhead sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Moorhead's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 77%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Moorhead is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Moorhead compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Moorhead'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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.3" | 5.4" | 30.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 38°F (4°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.4" | 4.7" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 50°F (10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.7" | 4.6" | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 3.7" | 15.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.6" | 0.5" | 4.5 | 0.7 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 4.7 |
| July | 89°F (31°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 17.2 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 16.0 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 2.0 | 5.2 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.1" | 2.0" | 14.6 | 0.4 |
| November | 46°F (8°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.4" | 3.3" | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 35°F (2°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.3" | 4.8" | 30.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Moorhead works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 90°F by July 25 and hold at or above 90°F on 13 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 187 dates, bottoming at 11°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 21 through August 2, covering 13 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 22 to September 28.
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 20, then returns to freezing around October 17, covering 187 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 May 30, when 33% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 11 at 13%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 76 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 35°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Moorhead.
Where Moorhead Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 187 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Moorhead 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: 5.4"
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.7"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.6"
5.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.7"
8.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
9.6 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.0"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.3"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.8"
4.2 days with precipitation
Moorhead runs a summer-peaked wet season
37% of Moorhead'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 2.6", on a wide 48.8°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, April, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: December at 0.3".
- Winter share: 8% 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.
Moorhead is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 76 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 21% of the calendar, and they carry 13.1" 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 10 wet days; the driest is December at about 4.
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 Moorhead
Moorhead averages 29.0 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 19 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: 29.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 19 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 22% 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 22
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 17
50% probability date
Growing Season
128 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,334
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
534
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Moorhead 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).
- Cashton, WI 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Clarence, PA 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Eureka, NV 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Fremont, MI 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Manti, UT 13.1" · 0.0" off
- Heppner, OR 13.1" · 0.0" off
- Laramie, WY 13.1" · 0.0" off
- Malad City, ID 13.1" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Moorhead
heating led · dry · mid swing
Moorhead's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,334 annual heating degree days against 534 for cooling. Its 48.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 128 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. Moorhead coldest normal
January
Averaging 23°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Moorhead typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Moorhead snow peak
January
Moorhead averages 29.0 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Moorhead's climate
How much snow does Moorhead get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Moorhead get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Moorhead? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Moorhead's primary station: MOORHEAD 9 NE (USC00245870). 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 Moorhead; 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 Moorhead 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.