Winifred, Montana climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Winifred's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 16.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.7°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 29°C, 417 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWinifred
- Station IDUSC00249033
- Location47.56°N 109.38°W
- Elevation3,243 ft (989 m)
- Population176
On October 22, the normal high in Winifred is 54°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Winifred.
- Jan 33° 10°
- Feb 36° 13°
- Mar 45° 22°
- Apr 55° 30°
- May 64° 40°
- Jun 73° 48°
- Jul 83° 54°
- Aug 83° 52°
- Sep 72° 43°
- Oct 57° 31°
- Nov 44° 21°
- Dec 35° 12°
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 Winifred each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.33 in), the least in February (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33°F | 10°F | 21.3°F | 0.65 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 36°F | 13°F | 24.4°F | 0.28 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 45°F | 22°F | 33.5°F | 0.77 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 30°F | 42.7°F | 1.51 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 40°F | 52.0°F | 2.79 | 9 | <1 | 6 | 15 h |
| June | 73°F | 48°F | 60.6°F | 3.33 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 83°F | 54°F | 68.6°F | 1.94 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 83°F | 52°F | 67.5°F | 1.48 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 43°F | 57.2°F | 1.20 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 31°F | 44.0°F | 1.34 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 21°F | 32.7°F | 0.65 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 35°F | 12°F | 23.6°F | 0.49 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 31°F | 44.0°F | 16.43 | 74 | 20 | 184 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −12°C | −5.9°C | 17 mm |
| February | 2°C | −10°C | −4.2°C | 7 mm |
| March | 7°C | −6°C | 0.8°C | 20 mm |
| April | 13°C | −1°C | 5.9°C | 38 mm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 11.1°C | 71 mm |
| June | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 85 mm |
| July | 29°C | 12°C | 20.3°C | 49 mm |
| August | 28°C | 11°C | 19.7°C | 38 mm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 14.0°C | 30 mm |
| October | 14°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 34 mm |
| November | 7°C | −6°C | 0.4°C | 17 mm |
| December | 2°C | −11°C | −4.7°C | 12 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00249033; 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 Winifred?
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 USC00249033.
When is the last frost in Winifred?
In Winifred, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after May 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 23 in half of years and before September 9 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 May 30; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 231 year in 10 before September 9; 9 in 10 before October 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 127 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 149 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Winifred in zone 4b in ZIP code 59489, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Winifred's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°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 USC00249033; 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 Winifred?
In a normal year in Winifred, 20 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 184 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 74 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 184a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 45high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 74a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1921) is 108°F, on June 27, 1936; the lowest is −49°F, on December 21, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 23.43 in; the snowiest season is 1949–50, with 70.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00249033; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00249033. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Winifred?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Winifred, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 1.6 |
| February | 75% | 2.6 |
| March | 72% | 3.7 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.8 |
| June | 77% | 6.6 |
| July | 87% | 7.1 |
| August | 85% | 5.9 |
| September | 79% | 4.3 |
| October | 73% | 2.7 |
| November | 71% | 1.7 |
| December | 67% | 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 Winifred need?
A normal year in Winifred brings 7,980 heating degree days, 49% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 355 cooling degree days, 61% 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 1,932 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,355 | 0 |
| February | 1,138 | 0 |
| March | 978 | 0 |
| April | 671 | 0 |
| May | 408 | 5 |
| June | 165 | 34 |
| July | 41 | 151 |
| August | 60 | 138 |
| September | 260 | 26 |
| October | 652 | 1 |
| November | 969 | 0 |
| December | 1,285 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,980 | 355 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00249033. 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 Winifred's climate compare?
Winifred is warmer than 74 of the other 140 places with their own NOAA record in Montana, and wetter than 98. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.0°F is warmer than 15%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Winifred is Dwb: continental, dry-winter, 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 Winifred's climate
What is the coldest month in Winifred?
January, with a normal high of 33°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 54°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Winifred?
June, with 3.33 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Winifred in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Winifred in zone 4b in ZIP code 59489, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Winifred's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Winifred?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 30. Waiting until May 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Montana climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Roy, MT25 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Sand Creek, MT30 miles from this station, 44.8°F a year
- Denton, MT31 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Lewistown, MT35 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