Ridgeway, 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 Ridgeway's primary NOAA station, RIDGEWAY 1 S.
The climate verdict for Ridgeway
Dryness leads the climate profile for Ridgeway, Montana, with 15.7 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 44°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.
- 44°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.7"
- annual precipitation · 50" snow
- 128 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Ridgeway: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00247034 · Ridgeway, MT 44°F mean · 15.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,098
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ingomar
- PRCP-DRY 15.7"
- SWING-WIDE 52°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,011 HDD
- STN-1 USC00247034
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ingomar, 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.
- Ridgeway (this station) 44°F
- Cold Ingomar, MT 44°F
- Near Menomonie, WI 44°F
- Near Ralph, SD 44°F
- Near Jordan, MT 44°F
Ridgeway 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 · Ridgeway
Ridgeway: 20/100 · grade F
Ridgeway publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Ridgeway, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 15.7 in · 19.3 from 35 in | 31/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 188 calendar days | 21/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 50.0 inches/year | 21/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.3°F · 23.2° from 67.5°F | 17/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 128 days/year | 11/100 · F |
Ridgeway · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Ridgeway'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
- 71.0°F
- Coldest month
- 19.0°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 Ridgeway sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Ridgeway's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 84%
- Among 6,861 stations, Ridgeway sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 81%
- Ridgeway's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 86%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Ridgeway is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Ridgeway compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Ridgeway'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
Ridgeway's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 35 complete annual observations from 1958 to 2025, RIDGEWAY 1 S warmed at a fitted rate of 0.21°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Ridgeway primary station fitted change +0.21 °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 | 31°F (-1°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.5" | 8.0" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 34°F (1°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 0.4" | 7.3" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.7" | 9.3" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.7" | 6.2" | 16.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.6" | 1.9" | 5.2 | 0.1 |
| June | 76°F (24°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.4" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| July | 85°F (29°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.3 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 8.1 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| October | 58°F (14°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 3.2" | 15.5 | 0.1 |
| November | 44°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.6" | 6.6" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 33°F (0°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 0.5" | 7.5" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 188 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 3.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 20, then returns to freezing around October 16, covering 188 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 29, when 30% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 17 at 10%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 61 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 8 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Ridgeway.
Where Ridgeway Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 188 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 16 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Ridgeway 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: 8.0"
2.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
3.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.3"
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.2"
6.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
8.8 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.2"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.6"
3.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
3.0 days with precipitation
Ridgeway runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Ridgeway'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 52°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, July, taking 45% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.4".
- Winter share: 9% 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.
How Ridgeway's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 60 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 15.7" between them, or roughly 0.26 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 Ridgeway
Ridgeway averages 50.0 inches of snowfall a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 21 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: 50.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 21 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 32% 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
8,011
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
503
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Ridgeway 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 (44°F here).
- Gettysburg, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Harrold, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Jim Falls, WI 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Kewaunee, WI 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mancos, CO 15.7" · 0.0" off
- Dry Creek, AK 15.7" · 0.0" off
- Watford City, ND 15.7" · 0.0" off
- Downey, ID 15.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Ridgeway
heating led · dry · mid swing
Ridgeway's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,011 annual heating degree days against 503 for cooling. Its 52.0°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. Ridgeway coldest normal
January
Averaging 19°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Ridgeway typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Ridgeway snow peak
March
Ridgeway averages 50.0 inches of snow a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Ridgeway's climate
How much snow does Ridgeway get? ▼
How cold does Ridgeway get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Ridgeway? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Ridgeway's primary station: RIDGEWAY 1 S (USC00247034). 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 Ridgeway; 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 Ridgeway 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.