Valier, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Valier's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 12.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.7°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 28°C, 321 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationValier
- Station IDUSC00248501
- Location48.31°N 112.25°W
- Elevation3,807 ft (1,160 m)
- Population538
On October 22, the normal high in Valier is 54°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Valier.
- Jan 35° 13°
- Feb 37° 14°
- Mar 46° 21°
- Apr 55° 30°
- May 64° 39°
- Jun 71° 47°
- Jul 82° 52°
- Aug 81° 51°
- Sep 72° 43°
- Oct 57° 33°
- Nov 43° 23°
- Dec 35° 15°
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 Valier each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.09 in), the least in January (0.25 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 13°F | 24.0°F | 0.25 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 37°F | 14°F | 25.8°F | 0.31 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 46°F | 21°F | 33.3°F | 0.44 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 30°F | 42.6°F | 1.25 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 64°F | 39°F | 51.7°F | 2.23 | 8 | <1 | 6 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 71°F | 47°F | 59.1°F | 3.09 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 82°F | 52°F | 66.8°F | 1.05 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 81°F | 51°F | 66.0°F | 1.33 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 43°F | 57.3°F | 1.25 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 33°F | 44.9°F | 0.74 | 5 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 43°F | 23°F | 32.9°F | 0.43 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 35°F | 15°F | 25.0°F | 0.26 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 32°F | 44.1°F | 12.63 | 68 | 9 | 171 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −11°C | −4.4°C | 6 mm |
| February | 3°C | −10°C | −3.4°C | 8 mm |
| March | 8°C | −6°C | 0.7°C | 11 mm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 32 mm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 10.9°C | 57 mm |
| June | 22°C | 8°C | 15.1°C | 78 mm |
| July | 28°C | 11°C | 19.3°C | 27 mm |
| August | 27°C | 10°C | 18.9°C | 34 mm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 14.1°C | 32 mm |
| October | 14°C | 0°C | 7.2°C | 19 mm |
| November | 6°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 11 mm |
| December | 2°C | −9°C | −3.9°C | 7 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Conrad (17 miles away), gets 47 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248501; 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 Valier?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00248501.
When is the last frost in Valier?
In Valier, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 17 in half of years and after May 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 24 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 171 year in 10 after May 31; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 241 year in 10 before September 11; 9 in 10 before October 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 129 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 152 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Valier in zone 4b in ZIP code 59486, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Valier's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°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 USC00248501; 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 Valier?
In a normal year in Valier, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 171 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 68 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 171a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 38high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 68a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 103°F, on August 5, 1961; the lowest is −49°F, on February 15, 1936.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1975, with 21.18 in; the snowiest season is 1924–25, with 71.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00248501; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00248501. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Valier?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Valier, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.3 |
| February | 73% | 2.4 |
| March | 68% | 3.5 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 69% | 5.6 |
| June | 73% | 6.3 |
| July | 86% | 7.1 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 76% | 4.1 |
| October | 69% | 2.5 |
| November | 62% | 1.4 |
| 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 much heating and cooling does Valier need?
A normal year in Valier brings 7,823 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 246 cooling degree days, 73% 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 1,762 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,269 | 0 |
| February | 1,096 | 0 |
| March | 983 | 0 |
| April | 671 | 0 |
| May | 415 | 3 |
| June | 196 | 17 |
| July | 53 | 110 |
| August | 66 | 95 |
| September | 250 | 20 |
| October | 623 | 1 |
| November | 963 | 0 |
| December | 1,240 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,823 | 246 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248501. 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.
How does Valier's climate compare?
Valier is warmer than 76 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.1°F is warmer than 16%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Valier 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 Valier share this climate record?
4 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.
- New Miami Colony, MT309 people · 8 mi S
- Birch Creek Colony, MT111 people · 11 mi SW
- Pondera Colony, MT47 people · 9 mi SW
- Kingsbury Colony, MT9 people · 11 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 Valier's climate
What is the coldest month in Valier?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 52°F at night).
Does it snow in Valier?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Valier's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Conrad (17 miles away), records 47 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Valier?
June, with 3.09 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.25 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Valier in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Valier in zone 4b in ZIP code 59486, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Valier's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Valier?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 17; in one year in ten it comes after May 31. Waiting until May 31 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Conrad, MT17 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Cut Bank, MT21 miles from this station, 41.8°F a year
- Blackleaf, MT22 miles from this station, 41.3°F a year
- Shelby, MT23 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made