Red Lodge, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Red Lodge's primary NOAA station, RED LODGE.
The climate verdict for Red Lodge
Red Lodge, Montana has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 43°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 43°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 22.7"
- annual precipitation · 142" snow
- 108 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Red Lodge: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00246918 · Red Lodge, MT 43°F mean · 22.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #892
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Bynum
- PRCP-DRY 22.7"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,055 HDD
- STN-1 USC00246918
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Bynum, MT (+ 0.1 °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.
- Hot Diversion Dam, WY 44°F
- Near Bynum, MT 44°F
- Red Lodge (this station) 43°F
- Cold Cascade, ID 43°F
- Near Waitsfield, VT 43°F
Red Lodge 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 · Red Lodge
Red Lodge: 19/100 · grade F
Red Lodge publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Red Lodge, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 22.7 in · 12.3 from 35 in | 57/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 43.4°F · 24.1° from 67.5°F | 14/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 200 calendar days | 14/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 108 days/year | 2/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 141.9 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Red Lodge · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Red Lodge is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 25.0°F and warmest-month mean 65.6°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 65.6°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 Red Lodge sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Red Lodge's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 87%
- Among 6,861 stations, Red Lodge sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 32nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 38th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Red Lodge compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Red Lodge's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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
Red Lodge's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 95 complete annual observations from 1903 to 2023, RED LODGE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.08°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Red Lodge primary station fitted change +0.08 °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 | 38°F (3°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 0.8" | 13.5" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 1.1" | 19.4" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.8" | 20.2" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 2.8" | 25.5" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (17°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 4.7" | 6.2" | 9.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 72°F (22°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 2.6" | 0.6" | 1.7 | 0.4 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.2 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| September | 71°F (22°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 56°F (14°C) | 1.6" | 2.1" | 3.5 | 0.3 |
| October | 56°F (14°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 2.3" | 17.0" | 17.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.4" | 18.7" | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 1.0" | 18.7" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 200 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near December 22.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 1, then returns to freezing around October 15, covering 200 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 42% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 6 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 94 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 4 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Red Lodge.
Where Red Lodge Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 200 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Red Lodge earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 13.5"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 19.4"
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 20.2"
7.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 25.5"
9.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.2"
12.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
11.4 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.1"
7.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 17.0"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 18.7"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 18.7"
5.7 days with precipitation
Red Lodge spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 22% of the annual total and December through February 13%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Red Lodge has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 4.7" and January 0.8". The three wettest months together take 44% 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 Red Lodge's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 92 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 22.7" between them, or roughly 0.25 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 Red Lodge
Red Lodge averages 141.9 inches of snowfall a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 39 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: 141.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 39 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 63% 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 19
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
108 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,055
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
197
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Red Lodge 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 (43°F here).
- Ashton, ID 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Atlanta, MI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Buffalo, WY 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Minot, ND 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (22.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Clarendon, TX 22.7" · 0.0" off
- Sonora, TX 22.7" · 0.0" off
- Gann Valley, SD 22.7" · 0.0" off
- Kilgore, NE 22.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Red Lodge
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Red Lodge's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,055 annual heating degree days against 197 for cooling. Its 40.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 108 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. Red Lodge coldest normal
December
Averaging 25°F (-4°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Red Lodge typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Red Lodge snow peak
April
Red Lodge averages 141.9 inches of snow a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Red Lodge's climate
How much snow does Red Lodge get? ▼
How cold does Red Lodge get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Red Lodge? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Red Lodge's primary station: RED LODGE (USC00246918). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 3061525). Match rule for Red Lodge: 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 Red Lodge 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.