Red Lodge, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Red Lodge's normal year runs from 14°F December nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 22.7 inches of precipitation and 142 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.3°C, December lows of −10°C, July highs of 27°C, 576 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRed Lodge
- Station IDUSC00246918
- Location45.18°N 109.26°W
- Elevation5,646 ft (1,721 m)
- Population2,686
On October 23, the normal high in Red Lodge is 53°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Red Lodge.
- Jan 38° 14°
- Feb 37° 14°
- Mar 46° 22°
- Apr 53° 29°
- May 62° 37°
- Jun 72° 44°
- Jul 81° 50°
- Aug 81° 49°
- Sep 71° 42°
- Oct 56° 31°
- Nov 43° 21°
- Dec 36° 14°
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 Red Lodge each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.72 in), the least in January (0.84 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 14°F | 25.7°F | 0.84 | 13.5 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 37°F | 14°F | 25.5°F | 1.14 | 19.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 46°F | 22°F | 33.7°F | 1.78 | 20.2 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 29°F | 40.9°F | 2.77 | 25.5 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 62°F | 37°F | 49.3°F | 4.72 | 6.2 | 12 | <1 | 9 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 72°F | 44°F | 57.6°F | 2.59 | 0.6 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 50°F | 65.6°F | 1.45 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 81°F | 49°F | 64.7°F | 1.01 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 42°F | 56.4°F | 1.63 | 2.1 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 31°F | 43.9°F | 2.34 | 17.0 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 21°F | 32.1°F | 1.39 | 18.7 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 36°F | 14°F | 25.0°F | 1.00 | 18.7 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 31°F | 43.4°F | 22.66 | 141.9 | 92 | 6 | 192 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −10°C | −3.5°C | 21 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 3°C | −10°C | −3.6°C | 29 mm | 49 cm |
| March | 8°C | −6°C | 0.9°C | 45 mm | 51 cm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 4.9°C | 70 mm | 65 cm |
| May | 17°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 120 mm | 16 cm |
| June | 22°C | 7°C | 14.2°C | 66 mm | 2 cm |
| July | 27°C | 10°C | 18.7°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 9°C | 18.2°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 5°C | 13.6°C | 41 mm | 5 cm |
| October | 14°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 59 mm | 43 cm |
| November | 6°C | −6°C | 0.1°C | 35 mm | 47 cm |
| December | 2°C | −10°C | −3.9°C | 25 mm | 47 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00246918; 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 Red Lodge?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00246918.
When is the last frost in Red Lodge?
In Red Lodge, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 3 in half of years and after June 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 19 in half of years and before August 31 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
- June 31 year in 10 after June 18; 9 in 10 after May 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 191 year in 10 before August 31; 9 in 10 before October 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 106 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 133 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 17 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Red Lodge in zone 5a in ZIP code 59007, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Red Lodge's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (17 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 Montana · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00246918; 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 Red Lodge?
In a normal year in Red Lodge, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 192 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 92 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 192a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 46high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 92a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 33a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 101°F, on July 21, 1931; the lowest is −42°F, on February 3, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 36.65 in; the snowiest season is 1983–84, with 271.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00246918; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00246918. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Red Lodge?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Red Lodge, 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 Red Lodge need?
A normal year in Red Lodge brings 8,055 heating degree days, 50% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 197 cooling degree days, 78% 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 1,598 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,218 | 0 |
| February | 1,106 | 0 |
| March | 970 | 0 |
| April | 723 | 0 |
| May | 488 | 2 |
| June | 237 | 16 |
| July | 70 | 87 |
| August | 84 | 73 |
| September | 276 | 18 |
| October | 655 | 1 |
| November | 986 | 0 |
| December | 1,241 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,055 | 197 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00246918. 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 Red Lodge been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 43.9°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.4°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.5°F | +0.1°F | 21.75 | 160.6 |
| 2023 | 43.9°F | +0.5°F | 27.55 | 150.3 |
Over 95 complete years from 1903 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00246918; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Red Lodge's climate compare?
Red Lodge is warmer than 55 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 121. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.4°F is warmer than 13%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Red Lodge 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 Red Lodge 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.
- Roberts, MT299 people · 12 mi N
- Bearcreek, MT101 people · 5 mi E
- Fox, MT64 people · 8 mi N
- Luther, MT31 people · 11 mi NW
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 Red Lodge's climate
What is the coldest month in Red Lodge?
December, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Red Lodge?
Yes: 142 inches in a normal year, falling on 39 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (25.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Red Lodge?
May, with 4.72 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.84 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Red Lodge in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Red Lodge in zone 5a in ZIP code 59007, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Red Lodge's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Red Lodge?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 3; in one year in ten it comes after June 18. Waiting until June 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clark (3 mi NE), WY17 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Bridger, MT20 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Mystic Lake, MT24 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Joliet, MT24 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made