Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse, Montana climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse's normal year runs from 2°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 11.2 inches of precipitation and 31 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.8°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 29°C, 283 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSimpson 6 N - Wildhorse
- Station IDUSC00247620
- Location49.00°N 110.22°W
- Elevation2,815 ft (858 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse is 51°F and the normal low 24°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 13%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse.
- Jan 24° 2°
- Feb 30° 7°
- Mar 41° 17°
- Apr 56° 28°
- May 66° 37°
- Jun 74° 46°
- Jul 84° 50°
- Aug 83° 49°
- Sep 72° 40°
- Oct 56° 27°
- Nov 39° 16°
- Dec 27° 5°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 2°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.45 in), the least in February (0.30 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 2°F | 13.3°F | 0.35 | 7.1 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 30°F | 7°F | 18.1°F | 0.30 | 3.8 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 41°F | 17°F | 29.0°F | 0.50 | 5.9 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 28°F | 42.0°F | 0.85 | 2.7 | 6 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 66°F | 37°F | 51.9°F | 1.91 | 0.7 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 74°F | 46°F | 59.8°F | 2.45 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 16 h 10 min |
| July | 84°F | 50°F | 67.2°F | 1.06 | 0.0 | 5 | 11 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| August | 83°F | 49°F | 65.8°F | 1.23 | 0.0 | 6 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| September | 72°F | 40°F | 55.7°F | 1.15 | 0.0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 27°F | 41.6°F | 0.62 | 0.9 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| November | 39°F | 16°F | 27.5°F | 0.43 | 4.5 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| December | 27°F | 5°F | 15.9°F | 0.30 | 5.6 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 27°F | 40.6°F | 11.15 | 31.2 | 61 | 28 | 199 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −16°C | −10.4°C | 9 mm | 18 cm |
| February | −1°C | −14°C | −7.7°C | 8 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 5°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 13 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 13°C | −2°C | 5.6°C | 22 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 19°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 49 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 23°C | 8°C | 15.4°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 10°C | 19.6°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 9°C | 18.8°C | 31 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 4°C | 13.2°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | −3°C | 5.3°C | 16 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 4°C | −9°C | −2.5°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| December | −3°C | −15°C | −8.9°C | 8 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247620; 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.
Which months are mildest at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
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 USC00247620.
When is the last frost at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
In Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 26 in half of years and after June 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 15 in half of years and before September 1 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 261 year in 10 after June 8; 9 in 10 after May 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 151 year in 10 before September 1; 9 in 10 before September 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 110 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 131 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 14 in half of springs and before September 23 in half of autumns.
By the USDA's method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in plant hardiness zone 3b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −35°F (20 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 USC00247620; 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 at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
In a normal year in Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse, 28 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 199 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 61 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 28a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 199a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 61a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1931) is 109°F, on August 5, 1961; the lowest is −52°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2025, with 17.08 in; the snowiest season is 1966–67, with 61.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00247620; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00247620. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.3 |
| February | 69% | 2.3 |
| March | 70% | 3.5 |
| April | 72% | 4.9 |
| May | 73% | 5.9 |
| June | 78% | 6.6 |
| July | 87% | 7.1 |
| August | 85% | 5.8 |
| September | 79% | 4.2 |
| October | 73% | 2.6 |
| November | 67% | 1.5 |
| December | 62% | 1.0 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse record?
A normal year at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse brings 9,101 heating degree days, 69% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 256 cooling degree days, 72% 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 1,725 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,601 | 0 |
| February | 1,315 | 0 |
| March | 1,118 | 0 |
| April | 690 | 0 |
| May | 412 | 4 |
| June | 180 | 23 |
| July | 46 | 116 |
| August | 73 | 100 |
| September | 291 | 13 |
| October | 726 | 0 |
| November | 1,127 | 0 |
| December | 1,524 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,101 | 256 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247620. 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.
Have recent years at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 42.2°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 40.6°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42.8°F | +2.2°F | 8.86 | – |
| 2022 | 41.4°F | +0.8°F | 8.73 | – |
| 2023 | 43.0°F | +2.4°F | 10.83 | 39.1 |
| 2024 | 42.0°F | +1.4°F | 14.55 | 33.5 |
| 2025 | 42.2°F | +1.6°F | 17.08 | 41.3 |
Over 56 complete years from 1932 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.0°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00247620; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse's climate compare?
Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse is warmer than 19 of the 141 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 9. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.6°F is warmer than 7%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse 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 Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse share this climate record?
Gildford Colony 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.
- Gildford Colony, MT41 people · 14 mi S
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 Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse's climate
What is the coldest month at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 2°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 18 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (7.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
June, with 2.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.30 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse in?
By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −35°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 3b.
How late can frost come at Simpson 6 N - Wildhorse?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 26; in one year in ten it comes after June 8. Waiting until June 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rudyard (21 mi N), MT20 miles from this station, 41.0°F a year
- Gildford, MT30 miles from this station, 41.7°F a year
- Havre, MT38 miles from this station, 43.6°F a year
- Fort Assiniboine, MT39 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made