Montana’s Coldest Januarys: Top 10 Record Temps

Winter in Montana is not for the weak. We can see sub-zero temperatures, high winds, snow, and freezing rain. Some people love that type of weather, and there are others who will do whatever they can to find warmer climates.

The good news about January in Montana is that we gain daylight. Parts of Montana will see almost an hour of increased daylight by the end of the month. Even with that extra daylight, plenty of winter remains in Montana.

Personal Experiences of Montana Winters

Being born and raised in Montana, I feel like I have seen some of the coldest January weather on record. It turns out I have only experienced one of Montana’s ten coldest Januarys, and I was just a little kid then. It must have had an impact on me, because I feel like every January is the coldest.

Record Cold in January 1916

According to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, the coldest average temperature in January in Montana occurred in January 1916. Montana’s average temperature for that month was -3.8°F.

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The coldest January I experienced in Montana was in 1979, when the average temperature was 2.1°F. That was a cold one, and it ranks in the top ten coldest Januarys in Montana going back to 1895.

We still get stretches of cold weather in January in Montana, but they seem to be fewer and farther between. January of 2025 saw an average temperature of 19.2°F, which feels downright warm compared to the January we saw in 1916. None of the top ten coldest Januarys have occurred since the 1900s.