Scobey, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Scobey's normal year runs from −1°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 13.5 inches of precipitation and 23 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.6°C, January lows of −18°C, July highs of 29°C, 344 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationScobey (4 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00247425
- Location48.84°N 105.47°W
- Elevation2,390 ft (729 m)
- Population979
On October 23, the normal high in Scobey is 52°F and the normal low 25°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Scobey.
- Jan 23° -1°
- Feb 27° 3°
- Mar 40° 15°
- Apr 56° 27°
- May 68° 38°
- Jun 76° 47°
- Jul 84° 51°
- Aug 84° 49°
- Sep 73° 39°
- Oct 56° 28°
- Nov 39° 14°
- Dec 26° 4°
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 Scobey each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −1°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.10 in), the least in February (0.23 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F | −1°F | 11.1°F | 0.33 | 5.8 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 27°F | 3°F | 15.3°F | 0.23 | 3.4 | 2 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 40°F | 15°F | 27.6°F | 0.40 | 2.8 | 3 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 27°F | 41.6°F | 0.97 | 0.8 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 68°F | 38°F | 52.7°F | 2.10 | 0.9 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 76°F | 47°F | 61.5°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 51°F | 67.4°F | 2.11 | 0.0 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 49°F | 66.6°F | 1.69 | 0.0 | 6 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| September | 73°F | 39°F | 55.8°F | 1.15 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 28°F | 41.9°F | 0.81 | 1.2 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| November | 39°F | 14°F | 26.5°F | 0.36 | 3.5 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| December | 26°F | 4°F | 14.9°F | 0.28 | 4.5 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 26°F | 40.2°F | 13.53 | 22.9 | 59 | 20 | 207 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −18°C | −11.6°C | 8 mm | 15 cm |
| February | −3°C | −16°C | −9.3°C | 6 mm | 9 cm |
| March | 4°C | −9°C | −2.4°C | 10 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 13°C | −3°C | 5.3°C | 25 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 20°C | 3°C | 11.5°C | 53 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 24°C | 8°C | 16.4°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 11°C | 19.7°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 9°C | 19.2°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 4°C | 13.2°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | −2°C | 5.5°C | 21 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 4°C | −10°C | −3.1°C | 9 mm | 9 cm |
| December | −3°C | −16°C | −9.5°C | 7 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247425; 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 Scobey?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September 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 USC00247425.
When is the last frost in Scobey?
In Scobey, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 28 in half of years and after June 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 6 in half of years and before August 24 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 281 year in 10 after June 13; 9 in 10 after May 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 61 year in 10 before August 24; 9 in 10 before September 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 99 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 120 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 19 in half of springs and before September 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Scobey in zone 3b in ZIP code 59263, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Scobey's NOAA station is in zone 3a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −36°F (28 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 USC00247425; 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 Scobey?
In a normal year in Scobey, 20 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 207 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 59 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 207a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 79high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 59a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1987) is 110°F, on July 24, 2007; the lowest is −51°F, on February 8, 2019.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 17.41 in; the snowiest season is 2003–04, with 60.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00247425; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00247425. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Scobey?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Scobey, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 1.6 |
| February | 83% | 2.8 |
| March | 77% | 3.9 |
| April | 73% | 4.9 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 77% | 6.5 |
| July | 86% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.1 |
| October | 73% | 2.6 |
| November | 72% | 1.6 |
| December | 70% | 1.2 |
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 Scobey need?
A normal year in Scobey brings 9,292 heating degree days, 73% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 305 cooling degree days, 66% 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 1,839 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,672 | 0 |
| February | 1,391 | 0 |
| March | 1,159 | 0 |
| April | 701 | 0 |
| May | 389 | 7 |
| June | 142 | 39 |
| July | 47 | 123 |
| August | 67 | 116 |
| September | 295 | 19 |
| October | 717 | 1 |
| November | 1,156 | 0 |
| December | 1,554 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,292 | 305 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247425. 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 Scobey been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 41.5°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 40.2°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42.3°F | +2.1°F | 8.78 | 11.3 |
| 2024 | 42.3°F | +2.1°F | 12.29 | 21.5 |
| 2025 | 41.5°F | +1.3°F | 12.54 | 21.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00247425. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Scobey's climate compare?
Scobey is warmer than 16 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 43. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.2°F is warmer than 6%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Scobey 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 Scobey share this climate record?
Peerless 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.
- Peerless, MT0 people · 17 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 Scobey's climate
What is the coldest month in Scobey?
January, with a normal high of 23°F and a normal low of −1°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 51°F at night).
Does it snow in Scobey?
Yes: 23 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Scobey?
June, with 3.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.23 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Scobey in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Scobey in zone 3b in ZIP code 59263, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Scobey's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −36°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 3a.
How late can frost come in Scobey?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 28; in one year in ten it comes after June 13. Waiting until June 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bredette, MT24 miles from this station, 40.9°F a year
- Redstone, MT24 miles from this station, 39.7°F a year
- Wolf Point (34 mi NE), MT27 miles from this station, 41.6°F a year
- Opheim (12 mi SSE), MT40 miles from this station, 35.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made