Climate and average weather in Montrose

In Montrose, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: mid August to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Montrose typically varies from 11°F to 86°F, and is rarely below -5°F or above 93°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Montrose for warm-weather activities are from early May to late June and mid August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
86°
Coldest
Jan
11°
Wettest
Apr
1.7 in
Driest
Jun
0.5 in
Rain / yr
14.2 in
83 wet days
Daylight
9.3–14.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
5,807 ft
38.5°N
Clearest
Sep
34% cloud

Montrose is city in and seat of Montrose County, Colorado, United States.

Density
412/km²
people per km²
Founded
1882

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Montrose weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid August to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Montrose, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.8 months, from May 27 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 74°F. The hottest month of the year in Montrose is July, with an average high of 86°F and low of 56°F.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 21 to March 3, with daily high temperatures below 46°F. The coldest month of the year in Montrose is January, with an average low of 11°F and high of 37°F.

Days typically run about 28°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 33°F) in June.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan3711
Feb4117
Mar5025
Apr5831
May7040
Jun8249
Jul8656
Aug8354
Sep7546
Oct6334
Nov4823
Dec3812

How hot and cold Montrose really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 2°F (around December 25), with roughly 203 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 95 of them bitterly cold — worst in December.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan3737411
Feb41411117
Mar50501925
Apr58582631
May70703740
Jun81824749
Jul86865656
Aug83835454
Sep75754446
Oct63633134
Nov48481823
Dec3838512

Average hourly temperature in Montrose

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 86°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 11°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Montrose weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan37° / 11°1.277.39.60.0
Feb41° / 17°1.387.710.50.2
Mar50° / 25°1.59.16.811.72.5
Apr58° / 31°1.78.84.5134.5
May70° / 40°1.37.70.814.17.0
Jun82° / 49°0.53.5014.67.3
Jul86° / 56°0.86014.45.5
Aug83° / 54°1.06.6013.56.5
Sep75° / 46°1.15.90.112.37.8
Oct63° / 34°1.36.61.6116.2
Nov48° / 23°1.36.55.59.92.1
Dec38° / 12°1.27.17.19.40.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Montrose gets about 14.2 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.1 months, from around Jan 18 to May 23, peaking in March at about 32% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 24.

April is the wettest month by volume, with 1.7 in over about 9 wet days; June is the driest, with 0.5 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetMar 30 · 32%Jun 24 · 11%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan237
Feb298
Mar299
Apr299
May248
Jun134
Jul196
Aug217
Sep206
Oct207
Nov227
Dec237

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Montrose collects about 14.2 in of rain across 83 wet days — roughly 1.2 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. April is the wettest month with 1.7 in, while June is the driest at just 0.5 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 32% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.52JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.21.31.51.71.30.50.81.01.11.31.31.2
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1.277
Feb1.388
Mar1.597
Apr1.795
May1.381
Jun0.540
Jul0.860
Aug1.070
Sep1.160
Oct1.372
Nov1.376
Dec1.277

Snow in Montrose

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Montrose averages about 41 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 7 to May 18 — about 7.4 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 8 days of snow and an estimated 11 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 58 in of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 23
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan710
Feb811
Mar78
Apr56
May11
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct22
Nov69
Dec711

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Montrose, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 29 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around November 20. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 21 and lasts for 6.2 months, ending around May 28. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 49% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 23 · 81%Feb 18 · 48%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5842
Feb5149
Mar5446
Apr5248
May5842
Jun7624
Jul7426
Aug7426
Sep8020
Oct7624
Nov6733
Dec5941

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 14, brings about 14 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 9 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.67:335:09
Feb10.57:115:41
Mar11.76:306:12
Apr13.05:426:42
May14.15:057:10
Jun14.64:527:32
Jul14.45:047:30
Aug13.55:307:01
Sep12.35:586:13
Oct11.06:275:26
Nov9.97:014:53
Dec9.47:284:48

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Montrose averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.8 months, from around Aug 7 to Dec 1. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is April, down near 9 sunny days — about 51% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 2420 daysApr 189 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May11Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul14Mixed
Aug15Mixed
Sep18Bright
Oct18Bright
Nov15Mixed
Dec13Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Montrose, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul991
Aug991
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Montrose is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJun 9 · 5 mphJan 5 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar4calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Best time to visit Montrose

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Montrose throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late August, Montrose is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Montrose for general outdoor tourist activities run from early May to late June and again from mid August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 20 · 8.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.3poor
Mar2.4poor
Apr4.6fair
May6.9good
Jun7.3good
Jul5.6good
Aug6.5good
Sep7.8ideal
Oct6.1good
Nov2.1poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Montrose for hot-weather activities is from late May to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of June.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 24 · 8.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Montrose, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 86°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 37°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Montrose sees daytime highs around 86°F and nights near 56°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Montrose by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Montrose peaks around July 15 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 15UV 11Jan 1UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar7High
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Montrose

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb40
Mar61.5
Apr6.51.5
May84.5
Jun96.5
Jul96.5
Aug8.56
Sep73.5
Oct50
Nov30
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Montrose typically lasts about 187 days, from around April 19 to October 22 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 13 to October 1.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 510%Apr 1950%May 1390%Oct 190%Oct 2250%Nov 2010%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan231
Feb628
Mar1531
Apr4630
May9013
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep980
Oct6331
Nov1530
Dec331

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Montrose banks about 2,193 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,0002,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May155
Jun457
Jul652
Aug580
Sep321
Oct29
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Montrose receives about 5.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 8.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 16 to Sep 26. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.6 kWh/m² — roughly 68% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 198.2 kWhDec 162.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.9Moderate
Feb3.9Moderate
Mar5.4Bright
Apr6.6Intense
May7.5Intense
Jun8.2Intense
Jul7.5Intense
Aug6.7Intense
Sep5.8Bright
Oct4.4Bright
Nov3.1Moderate
Dec2.6Moderate

Where is Montrose?

Montrose sits at 38.5°N, 107.9°W, 5,807 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Telluride, 37 mi away.

Topography around Montrose

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Montrose.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Montrose has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 308 ft around an average of 5,827 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,005 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 9,485 ft.

The land around Montrose is covered by artificial surfaces (35%) and grassland (25%) within 2 miles, grassland (33%) and trees (21%) within 10 miles, and trees (54%) and grassland (28%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
308 ft
10 miles
3,005 ft
50 miles
9,485 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainmoss and lichen
Nearby: Telluride 37 mi · Clifton 52 mi · Grand Junction 55 mi · Aspen 75 mi · Durango 83 mi · Moab 91 mi · Farmington 122 mi · Cañon City 142 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Montrose (38.4783°, -107.8762°, elevation 5,807 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).