Trout Creek, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Trout Creek's normal year runs from 22°F December nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 26.8 inches of precipitation and 51 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.8°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 29°C, 681 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTrout Creek Ranger Station
- Station IDUSC00248380
- Location47.87°N 115.63°W
- Elevation2,356 ft (718 m)
- Population (census place)340
On October 14, the normal high in Trout Creek is 59°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Trout Creek.
- Jan 34° 22°
- Feb 39° 23°
- Mar 48° 28°
- Apr 58° 32°
- May 68° 39°
- Jun 74° 45°
- Jul 85° 49°
- Aug 85° 47°
- Sep 74° 41°
- Oct 58° 35°
- Nov 41° 29°
- Dec 33° 22°
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 Trout Creek each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in December (3.72 in), the least in August (0.86 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 22°F | 28.0°F | 3.20 | 18.2 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 39°F | 23°F | 30.8°F | 2.34 | 6.4 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 48°F | 28°F | 38.0°F | 1.93 | 3.7 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 32°F | 45.0°F | 1.75 | 0.3 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 68°F | 39°F | 53.6°F | 2.06 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 74°F | 45°F | 59.5°F | 2.42 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 16 h |
| July | 85°F | 49°F | 66.8°F | 0.90 | 0.0 | 5 | 11 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 47°F | 65.7°F | 0.86 | 0.0 | 5 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 74°F | 41°F | 57.6°F | 1.32 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 35°F | 46.1°F | 2.86 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| November | 41°F | 29°F | 34.7°F | 3.46 | 5.8 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 33°F | 22°F | 27.6°F | 3.72 | 17.0 | 16 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 34°F | 46.1°F | 26.82 | 51.4 | 129 | 27 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −5°C | −2.2°C | 81 mm | 46 cm |
| February | 4°C | −5°C | −0.7°C | 59 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 9°C | −2°C | 3.3°C | 49 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.2°C | 44 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 20°C | 4°C | 12.0°C | 52 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23°C | 7°C | 15.3°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 9°C | 19.3°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 8°C | 18.7°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 5°C | 14.2°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 5°C | −2°C | 1.5°C | 88 mm | 15 cm |
| December | 1°C | −5°C | −2.4°C | 94 mm | 43 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248380; 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 Trout Creek?
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 USC00248380.
When is the last frost in Trout Creek?
In Trout Creek, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 20 in half of years and after June 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 21 in half of years and before September 2 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 201 year in 10 after June 9; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 211 year in 10 before September 2; 9 in 10 before October 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 122 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 159 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 1 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Trout Creek in zone 6a in ZIP code 59874, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Trout Creek's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (21 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 USC00248380; 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 Trout Creek?
In a normal year in Trout Creek, 27 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 129 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 27a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 129a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 110°F, on August 4, 1961; the lowest is −40°F, on December 30, 1968.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 37.95 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 136.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00248380; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00248380. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Trout Creek?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Trout Creek, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (51%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.1 |
| February | 60% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.2 |
| April | 66% | 4.5 |
| May | 69% | 5.6 |
| June | 71% | 6.2 |
| July | 87% | 7.3 |
| August | 84% | 6.0 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 66% | 2.5 |
| November | 54% | 1.3 |
| December | 51% | 0.9 |
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 Trout Creek need?
A normal year in Trout Creek brings 7,089 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 234 cooling degree days, 74% 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 1,759 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,147 | 0 |
| February | 957 | 0 |
| March | 836 | 0 |
| April | 600 | 0 |
| May | 359 | 5 |
| June | 187 | 22 |
| July | 52 | 108 |
| August | 66 | 86 |
| September | 235 | 12 |
| October | 584 | 0 |
| November | 909 | 0 |
| December | 1,158 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,089 | 234 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248380. 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 Trout Creek been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.0°F, 2.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.1°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.0°F | +2.9°F | – | – |
Over 36 complete years from 1965 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00248380; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Trout Creek's climate compare?
Trout Creek is warmer than 113 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 128. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.1°F is warmer than 24%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Trout Creek is Dsb: continental, dry-summer, 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.
Questions about Trout Creek's climate
What is the coldest month in Trout Creek?
December, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Trout Creek?
Yes: 51 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (18.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Trout Creek?
December, with 3.72 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.86 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Trout Creek in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Trout Creek in zone 6a in ZIP code 59874, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Trout Creek's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Trout Creek?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 20; in one year in ten it comes after June 9. Waiting until June 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Libby (32 mi SSE), MT20 miles from this station, 40.2°F a year
- Prichard (3 mi ESE), ID21 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Thompson Falls, MT22 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Heron, MT23 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made