Wise Rvr, MT Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Wise Rvr's primary NOAA station, WISE RVR 3 WNW.
The climate verdict for Wise Rvr
Dryness leads the climate profile for Wise Rvr, Montana, with 12.9 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 38°F. July is the warmest month at 58°F and December the coldest at 18°F.
- 38°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 12.9"
- annual precipitation
Wise Rvr: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00249082 · Wise Rvr, MT 38°F mean · 12.9" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 38°F
- RANK-COOL #206
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Twin Lakes Rsvr
- PRCP-DRY 12.9"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 9,919 HDD
- STN-1 USC00249082
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Twin Lakes Rsvr, CO (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MT station list.
- Wise Rvr (this station) 38°F
- Hot Anchorage Merri…, AK 38°F
- Near Twin Lakes Rsvr, CO 38°F
- Near Iliamna, AK 38°F
- Near Gunnison, CO 38°F
Wise Rvr sits in Montana, the #6 coldest U.S. state at 43.4°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Wise Rvr
Wise Rvr: 5/100 · grade F
Wise Rvr publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Wise Rvr, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 12.9 in · 22.1 from 35 in | 21/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 37.7°F · 29.8° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 269 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Wise Rvr · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Wise Rvr is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 18.2°F and warmest-month mean 58.4°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 58.4°F
- Coldest month
- 18.2°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Wise Rvr sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Wise Rvr's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 97%
- Among 6,861 stations, Wise Rvr sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 88%
- Wise Rvr's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 37th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F (0°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 0.6" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 33°F (1°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.5" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.6" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 51°F (11°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.0" | 28.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 61°F (16°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.9" | 23.3 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (20°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 2.0" | 10.6 | 0.2 |
| July | 79°F (26°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 1.4" | 3.8 | 1.1 |
| August | 79°F (26°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.0" | 9.6 | 0.7 |
| September | 70°F (21°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 1.2" | 20.0 | 0.3 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 1.1" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 39°F (4°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.9" | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 30°F (-1°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.7" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 81°F around July 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 269 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 5°F near December 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 29, then returns to freezing around September 4, covering 269 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 28, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 2 at 22%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 109 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 7 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 43°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Wise Rvr.
Where Wise Rvr Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 269 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 43°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Wise Rvr earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
9.5 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
9.8 days with precipitation
12.3 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
Wise Rvr spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 33% of the annual total and December through February 14%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Wise Rvr has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: June averages 2.0" and February 0.5". The three wettest months together take 41% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Wise Rvr is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 109 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 30% of the calendar, and they carry 12.9" between them. At roughly 0.12 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is May at about 12 wet days; the driest is September at about 7.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,919
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
6
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MT closest to Wise Rvr on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (38°F here).
- Blackduck, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Goodridge, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Gunnison, CO 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Iliamna, AK 38°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (12.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mountainair, NM 12.9" · 0.0" off
- Blanding, UT 12.9" · 0.0" off
- Cheraw, CO 13.0" · 0.0" off
- Faywood, NM 12.9" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Wise Rvr's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Wise Rvr's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 9,919 annual heating degree days against 6 for cooling. Its 40.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Wise Rvr. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Wise Rvr's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.2°F. The annual average is 38°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Wise Rvr's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 12.9 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Wise Rvr wettest normal
June
June concentrates the scarce annual total (12.9 inches).
Wise Rvr driest normal
February
February is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Wise Rvr's climate
How dry is Wise Rvr? ▼
How cold does Wise Rvr get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Wise Rvr? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Wise Rvr's primary station: WISE RVR 3 WNW (USC00249082). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Wise Rvr; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Wise Rvr comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.