Rapelje, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Rapelje's primary NOAA station, RAPELJE.
The climate verdict for Rapelje
Dryness leads the climate profile for Rapelje, Montana, with 15.2 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 45°F. At 34/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 2% of scores.
- 45°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.2"
- annual precipitation · 54" snow
- 120 days
- frost-free growing season
Rapelje: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00246862 · Rapelje, MT 45°F mean · 15.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,235
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sundance
- PRCP-DRY 15.2"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,696 HDD
- STN-1 USC00246862
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Sundance, 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.
- Rapelje (this station) 45°F
- Cold Pulaski, NY 45°F
- Hot Harrison, NE 45°F
- Near Sundance, UT 45°F
- Near Great Falls, MT 45°F
Rapelje 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 · Rapelje
Rapelje: 18/100 · grade F
Rapelje publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Rapelje, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 15.2 in · 19.8 from 35 in | 29/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.7°F · 22.8° from 67.5°F | 19/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 54.3 inches/year | 19/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 196 calendar days | 16/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 120 days/year | 7/100 · F |
Rapelje · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Rapelje'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
- 68.4°F
- Coldest month
- 25.0°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 Rapelje sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Rapelje's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 82%
- Among 6,861 stations, Rapelje sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 82%
- Rapelje's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 50th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Rapelje compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Rapelje's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
34 2nd percentile score exceeds 2% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 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
Rapelje's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 92 complete annual observations from 1909 to 2020, RAPELJE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.03°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Rapelje primary station fitted change +0.03 °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 | 36°F (2°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 7.8" | 28.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 38°F (3°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.6" | 9.8" | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 47°F (8°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 0.8" | 8.8" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 55°F (13°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 1.8" | 6.6" | 18.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 64°F (18°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.7" | 1.1" | 6.4 | 0.2 |
| June | 73°F (23°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 2.4" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 13.0 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 12.7 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.4" | 0.2" | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| October | 58°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 5.6" | 14.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.6" | 6.4" | 24.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 8.0" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 29, short of 90°F on every date, while 196 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 14°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 28, then returns to freezing around October 16, covering 196 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 24, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 3 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 76 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 9 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 33°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Rapelje.
Where Rapelje Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 196 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 15 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Rapelje 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: 7.8"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.8"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.8"
5.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.6"
8.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
10.3 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.6"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.4"
4.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
4.5 days with precipitation
Rapelje spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 10%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Rapelje has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.7" and January 0.5". The three wettest months together take 46% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Rapelje's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 75 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 15.2" between them, or roughly 0.20 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Rapelje
Rapelje averages 54.3 inches of snowfall a year, with February 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: 54.3 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 36% 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 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
120 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,696
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
327
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Rapelje 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 (45°F here).
- Arlington, SD 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Buena Vista, CO 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Canby, MN 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Evergreen, CO 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Conchas Dam, NM 15.2" · 0.0" off
- Sterling, CO 15.2" · 0.0" off
- Tatum, NM 15.2" · 0.0" off
- Longmont, CO 15.2" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Rapelje
heating led · dry · mid swing
Rapelje's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,696 annual heating degree days against 327 for cooling. Its 43.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 120 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. Rapelje coldest normal
January
Averaging 25°F (-4°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Rapelje typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Rapelje snow peak
February
Rapelje averages 54.3 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Rapelje's climate
How much snow does Rapelje get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Rapelje get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Rapelje? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Rapelje's primary station: RAPELJE (USC00246862). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as a census-designated place (GEOID 3060850), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Rapelje: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Rapelje 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.