Rapelje, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rapelje's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 15.2 inches of precipitation and 54 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 29°C, 387 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRapelje
- Station IDUSC00246862
- Location45.97°N 109.25°W
- Elevation4,068 ft (1,240 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population (census place)96
On October 22, the normal high in Rapelje is 54°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rapelje.
- Jan 36° 15°
- Feb 38° 15°
- Mar 47° 22°
- Apr 55° 30°
- May 64° 38°
- Jun 73° 46°
- Jul 84° 53°
- Aug 84° 51°
- Sep 73° 43°
- Oct 58° 32°
- Nov 44° 22°
- Dec 36° 16°
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 Rapelje each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.73 in), the least in January (0.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 15°F | 25.0°F | 0.46 | 7.8 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 9 h |
| February | 38°F | 15°F | 26.5°F | 0.57 | 9.8 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 47°F | 22°F | 34.6°F | 0.76 | 8.8 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 30°F | 42.1°F | 1.78 | 6.6 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 38°F | 51.1°F | 2.73 | 1.1 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 73°F | 46°F | 59.7°F | 2.42 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 84°F | 53°F | 68.4°F | 1.64 | 0.0 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 84°F | 51°F | 67.3°F | 1.06 | 0.0 | 6 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 73°F | 43°F | 57.8°F | 1.40 | 0.2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 32°F | 44.8°F | 1.35 | 5.6 | 6 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 22°F | 33.3°F | 0.57 | 6.4 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 36°F | 16°F | 25.6°F | 0.49 | 8.0 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 15.23 | 54.3 | 75 | 32 | 175 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −10°C | −3.9°C | 12 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 3°C | −9°C | −3.1°C | 14 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 8°C | −5°C | 1.4°C | 19 mm | 22 cm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 45 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 18°C | 3°C | 10.6°C | 69 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 12°C | 20.2°C | 42 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 11°C | 19.6°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 6°C | 14.3°C | 36 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 34 mm | 14 cm |
| November | 7°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 14 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 2°C | −9°C | −3.6°C | 12 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00246862; 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 Rapelje?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00246862.
When is the last frost in Rapelje?
In Rapelje, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 24 in half of years and after June 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 21 in half of years and before September 4 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 241 year in 10 after June 11; 9 in 10 after May 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 211 year in 10 before September 4; 9 in 10 before October 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 116 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 143 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 11 in half of springs and before October 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rapelje in zone 4b in ZIP code 59067, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rapelje's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00246862; 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 Rapelje?
In a normal year in Rapelje, 32 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 175 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 75 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 175a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 34high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 75a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1908) is 108°F, on July 9, 1930; the lowest is −45°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 29.39 in; the snowiest season is 2017–18, with 153.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00246862; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00246862. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rapelje?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rapelje, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and April the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.9 |
| February | 76% | 2.8 |
| March | 70% | 3.8 |
| April | 66% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.7 |
| June | 77% | 6.7 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 84% | 6.0 |
| September | 80% | 4.6 |
| October | 72% | 2.9 |
| November | 70% | 1.9 |
| December | 67% | 1.4 |
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 Rapelje need?
A normal year in Rapelje brings 7,696 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 327 cooling degree days, 64% 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 1,885 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,239 | 0 |
| February | 1,078 | 0 |
| March | 943 | 0 |
| April | 686 | 0 |
| May | 435 | 2 |
| June | 184 | 26 |
| July | 40 | 147 |
| August | 55 | 126 |
| September | 239 | 25 |
| October | 627 | 1 |
| November | 953 | 0 |
| December | 1,220 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,696 | 327 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00246862. 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 Rapelje been warmer than normal lately?
Over 92 complete years from 1909 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.5°F per century (+0.03°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rapelje's climate compare?
Rapelje is warmer than 86 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 78. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.7°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rapelje is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Rapelje share this climate record?
Broadview 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.
- Broadview, MT137 people · 20 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 Rapelje's climate
What is the coldest month in Rapelje?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Rapelje?
Yes: 54 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (9.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Rapelje?
May, with 2.73 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rapelje in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rapelje in zone 4b in ZIP code 59067, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rapelje's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −24°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Rapelje?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 24; in one year in ten it comes after June 11. Waiting until June 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Gibson (2 mi NE), MT12 miles from this station, 43.8°F a year
- Ryegate, MT22 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Columbus, MT22 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Big Timber, MT35 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made