Stanford, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Stanford's normal year runs from 16°F December nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 17.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.0°C, December lows of −9°C, July highs of 28°C, 440 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationStanford
- Station IDUSC00247864
- Location47.16°N 110.22°W
- Elevation4,860 ft (1,481 m)
- Population418
On October 23, the normal high in Stanford is 54°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Stanford.
- Jan 38° 16°
- Feb 38° 16°
- Mar 46° 23°
- Apr 54° 30°
- May 63° 38°
- Jun 71° 46°
- Jul 82° 52°
- Aug 81° 52°
- Sep 71° 44°
- Oct 57° 33°
- Nov 45° 23°
- Dec 38° 16°
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 Stanford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.10 in), the least in February (0.48 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 16°F | 26.8°F | 0.57 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 38°F | 16°F | 27.0°F | 0.48 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 46°F | 23°F | 34.4°F | 0.86 | 8 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 30°F | 42.0°F | 1.90 | 11 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 63°F | 38°F | 50.6°F | 3.10 | 13 | <1 | 8 | 15 h |
| June | 71°F | 46°F | 58.5°F | 3.00 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 52°F | 66.9°F | 1.70 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 81°F | 52°F | 66.3°F | 1.61 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 71°F | 44°F | 57.3°F | 1.50 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 33°F | 45.0°F | 1.31 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 45°F | 23°F | 34.1°F | 0.69 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 38°F | 16°F | 26.7°F | 0.60 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 32°F | 44.6°F | 17.32 | 103 | 11 | 172 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −9°C | −2.9°C | 14 mm |
| February | 3°C | −9°C | −2.8°C | 12 mm |
| March | 8°C | −5°C | 1.3°C | 22 mm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.6°C | 48 mm |
| May | 17°C | 3°C | 10.3°C | 79 mm |
| June | 22°C | 8°C | 14.7°C | 76 mm |
| July | 28°C | 11°C | 19.4°C | 43 mm |
| August | 27°C | 11°C | 19.1°C | 41 mm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 14.1°C | 38 mm |
| October | 14°C | 0°C | 7.2°C | 33 mm |
| November | 7°C | −5°C | 1.2°C | 18 mm |
| December | 3°C | −9°C | −2.9°C | 15 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Moccasin (14 miles away), gets 45 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247864; 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 Stanford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00247864.
When is the last frost in Stanford?
In Stanford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 25 in half of years and after June 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 21 in half of years and before September 6 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 251 year in 10 after June 15; 9 in 10 after May 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 211 year in 10 before September 6; 9 in 10 before October 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 118 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 143 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 10 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stanford in zone 4b in ZIP code 59479, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Stanford's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (29 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 USC00247864; 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 Stanford?
In a normal year in Stanford, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 172 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 103 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 172a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 103a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1965) is 103°F, on July 12, 2026; the lowest is −40°F, on December 30, 1968.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 26.35 in; the snowiest season is 1974–75, with 122.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00247864; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00247864. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Stanford?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Stanford, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 1.5 |
| February | 73% | 2.5 |
| March | 71% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 71% | 5.8 |
| June | 76% | 6.6 |
| July | 87% | 7.2 |
| August | 85% | 5.9 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 72% | 2.7 |
| November | 68% | 1.6 |
| December | 66% | 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 Stanford need?
A normal year in Stanford brings 7,671 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 278 cooling degree days, 69% 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 1,777 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,186 | 0 |
| February | 1,062 | 0 |
| March | 950 | 0 |
| April | 690 | 0 |
| May | 449 | 2 |
| June | 213 | 19 |
| July | 58 | 118 |
| August | 70 | 110 |
| September | 258 | 26 |
| October | 621 | 2 |
| November | 929 | 0 |
| December | 1,186 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,671 | 278 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00247864. 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 Stanford been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.6°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.8°F | −0.8°F | 13.50 |
| 2025 | 45.0°F | +0.4°F | – |
Over 46 complete years from 1966 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00247864; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Stanford's climate compare?
Stanford is warmer than 83 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 106. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.6°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Stanford is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm summer. 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 Stanford share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Windham, MT57 people · 7 mi SE
- Surprise Creek Colony, MT0 people · 6 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 Stanford's climate
What is the coldest month in Stanford?
December, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 52°F at night).
Does it snow in Stanford?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Stanford's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Moccasin (14 miles away), records 45 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Stanford?
May, with 3.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.48 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Stanford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Stanford in zone 4b in ZIP code 59479, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Stanford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Stanford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 25; in one year in ten it comes after June 15. Waiting until June 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Moccasin, MT14 miles from this station, 43.5°F a year
- Denton, MT17 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Lewistown (42 mi WSW), MT19 miles from this station, 40.6°F a year
- Raynesford, MT26 miles from this station, 44.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made