Whitefish, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Whitefish's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 19.9 inches of precipitation and 63 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.8°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 27°C, 506 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWhitefish
- Station IDUSC00248902
- Location48.41°N 114.36°W
- Elevation3,100 ft (945 m)
- Population9,256
On October 22, the normal high in Whitefish is 49°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Whitefish.
- Jan 29° 16°
- Feb 34° 16°
- Mar 43° 23°
- Apr 53° 30°
- May 64° 39°
- Jun 70° 45°
- Jul 81° 50°
- Aug 80° 48°
- Sep 69° 40°
- Oct 53° 31°
- Nov 38° 24°
- Dec 29° 18°
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 Whitefish each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.20 in), the least in August (0.89 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 16°F | 22.4°F | 1.84 | 16.5 | 13 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 34°F | 16°F | 25.1°F | 1.26 | 7.0 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 43°F | 23°F | 32.8°F | 1.27 | 8.0 | 10 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 53°F | 30°F | 41.6°F | 1.61 | 1.6 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 64°F | 39°F | 51.2°F | 1.99 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 70°F | 45°F | 57.4°F | 3.20 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 81°F | 50°F | 65.4°F | 1.40 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 80°F | 48°F | 64.1°F | 0.89 | 0.0 | 6 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 69°F | 40°F | 54.4°F | 1.25 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 53°F | 31°F | 41.7°F | 1.45 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 24°F | 30.8°F | 1.70 | 8.3 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 29°F | 18°F | 23.4°F | 2.07 | 21.2 | 13 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 32°F | 42.5°F | 19.93 | 63.1 | 122 | 13 | 195 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −9°C | −5.3°C | 47 mm | 42 cm |
| February | 1°C | −9°C | −3.8°C | 32 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 6°C | −5°C | 0.4°C | 32 mm | 20 cm |
| April | 12°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 41 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 10.7°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 21°C | 7°C | 14.1°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 10°C | 18.6°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 9°C | 17.8°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 37 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 3°C | −4°C | −0.7°C | 43 mm | 21 cm |
| December | −2°C | −8°C | −4.8°C | 53 mm | 54 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248902; 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 Whitefish?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00248902.
When is the last frost in Whitefish?
In Whitefish, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 8 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 161 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 8; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 129 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 157 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 1 in half of springs and before October 7 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Whitefish in zone 5a in ZIP code 59937, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Whitefish's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (19 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 USC00248902; 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 Whitefish?
In a normal year in Whitefish, 13 days a year reach 90°F, 195 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 122 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 13a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 195a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 122a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 26a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00248902.
How sunny is Whitefish?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Whitefish, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (50%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.1 |
| February | 62% | 2.0 |
| March | 62% | 3.1 |
| April | 65% | 4.4 |
| May | 68% | 5.5 |
| June | 69% | 6.0 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 65% | 2.4 |
| November | 53% | 1.2 |
| December | 50% | 0.8 |
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 Whitefish need?
A normal year in Whitefish brings 8,337 heating degree days, 55% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 173 cooling degree days, 81% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,456 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,319 | 0 |
| February | 1,116 | 0 |
| March | 1,000 | 0 |
| April | 704 | 0 |
| May | 430 | 2 |
| June | 242 | 14 |
| July | 76 | 88 |
| August | 93 | 65 |
| September | 321 | 4 |
| October | 721 | 0 |
| November | 1,028 | 0 |
| December | 1,290 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,337 | 173 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00248902. 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 Whitefish's climate compare?
Whitefish is warmer than 38 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 116. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.5°F is warmer than 11%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Whitefish 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.
Questions about Whitefish's climate
What is the coldest month in Whitefish?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Whitefish?
Yes: 63 inches in a normal year, falling on 35 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (21.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Whitefish?
June, with 3.20 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.89 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Whitefish in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Whitefish in zone 5a in ZIP code 59937, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Whitefish's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Whitefish?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Whitefish in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kalispell, MT9 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Olney, MT14 miles from this station, 39.6°F a year
- Hungry Horse, MT16 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- West Glacier, MT18 miles from this station, 43.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made