Saco, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Saco's normal year runs from 2°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 13.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.6°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 28°C, 339 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSaco (1 mi NNW)
- Station IDUSC00247265
- Location48.47°N 107.35°W
- Elevation2,185 ft (666 m)
- Population161
On October 22, the normal high in Saco is 54°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Saco.
- Jan 26° 2°
- Feb 30° 6°
- Mar 43° 17°
- Apr 57° 29°
- May 68° 40°
- Jun 74° 50°
- Jul 83° 55°
- Aug 82° 53°
- Sep 72° 42°
- Oct 57° 30°
- Nov 41° 17°
- Dec 29° 6°
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 Saco each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 2°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.01 in), the least in January (0.26 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 2°F | 13.6°F | 0.26 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 30°F | 6°F | 17.8°F | 0.33 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 43°F | 17°F | 30.1°F | 0.53 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 29°F | 43.2°F | 1.05 | 5 | <1 | 21 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 68°F | 40°F | 53.7°F | 1.77 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 74°F | 50°F | 62.3°F | 3.01 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 83°F | 55°F | 69.0°F | 1.69 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 82°F | 53°F | 67.6°F | 1.35 | 5 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 42°F | 56.9°F | 1.35 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 30°F | 43.4°F | 1.05 | 4 | <1 | 19 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 17°F | 28.7°F | 0.54 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 29°F | 6°F | 17.4°F | 0.43 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 29°F | 42.0°F | 13.36 | 60 | 19 | 197 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −17°C | −10.2°C | 7 mm |
| February | −1°C | −15°C | −7.9°C | 8 mm |
| March | 6°C | −8°C | −1.1°C | 13 mm |
| April | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 27 mm |
| May | 20°C | 4°C | 12.1°C | 45 mm |
| June | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 76 mm |
| July | 28°C | 13°C | 20.6°C | 43 mm |
| August | 28°C | 12°C | 19.8°C | 34 mm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 13.8°C | 34 mm |
| October | 14°C | −1°C | 6.3°C | 27 mm |
| November | 5°C | −9°C | −1.8°C | 14 mm |
| December | −2°C | −14°C | −8.1°C | 11 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247265; 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 Saco?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00247265.
When is the last frost in Saco?
In Saco, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 15 in half of years and after May 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 23 in half of years and before September 11 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 151 year in 10 after May 26; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 231 year in 10 before September 11; 9 in 10 before October 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 130 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 148 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 6 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Saco in zone 3b in ZIP code 59261, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Saco's NOAA station is in zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (16 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 USC00247265; 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 Saco?
In a normal year in Saco, 19 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 197 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 60 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 197a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 64high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 60a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00247265.
How sunny is Saco?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Saco, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 1.5 |
| February | 78% | 2.6 |
| March | 75% | 3.8 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 77% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.9 |
| August | 85% | 5.7 |
| September | 79% | 4.2 |
| October | 75% | 2.7 |
| November | 72% | 1.6 |
| December | 68% | 1.1 |
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 Saco need?
A normal year in Saco brings 8,701 heating degree days, 62% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 349 cooling degree days, 62% 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 1,981 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,595 | 0 |
| February | 1,322 | 0 |
| March | 1,082 | 0 |
| April | 654 | 0 |
| May | 357 | 7 |
| June | 121 | 42 |
| July | 27 | 151 |
| August | 51 | 131 |
| September | 262 | 19 |
| October | 668 | 0 |
| November | 1,089 | 0 |
| December | 1,474 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,701 | 349 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247265. 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 Saco been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 42.4°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 42.0°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 40.9°F | −1.1°F | 12.90 |
| 2023 | 42.4°F | +0.4°F | 11.84 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00247265. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Saco's climate compare?
Saco is warmer than 30 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 38. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.0°F is warmer than 9%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Saco 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 Saco share this climate record?
Sleeping Buffalo 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.
- Sleeping Buffalo, MT10 people · 8 mi W
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 Saco's climate
What is the coldest month in Saco?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 2°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 55°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Saco?
June, with 3.01 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.26 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Saco in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Saco in zone 3b in ZIP code 59261, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Saco's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −32°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come in Saco?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 26. Waiting until May 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hinsdale, MT12 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Malta, MT25 miles from this station, 44.9°F a year
- Content (4 mi NNE), MT28 miles from this station, 42.4°F a year
- Glasgow, MT38 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made