Seeley Lake weather and climate

Seeley Lake has a mountain climate with two big seasons and two short ones. Winters are long, cold and snowy; summers are warm, dry and short; spring and fall swing hard between them. The figures below are NOAA’s official 1991-2020 normals for the Seeley Lake Ranger Station weather station, the standard reference for the town.¹ The climate is classed as Koppen Dfb, warm-summer humid continental.³

Seeley Lake weather by month

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station Seeley Lake RS (USC00247448).¹ Precipitation includes the water content of snow. Annual snowfall is the sum of the monthly normals.

A note on the station: it sits at about 4,100 feet, a little above the lake surface, and it stopped reporting in June 2016. NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals remain the standard figures.¹² The Western Regional Climate Center’s longer record (1936 to 2016) lands close to them: about 120 inches of snow and 21 inches of precipitation a year.² For today’s weather, use the National Weather Service point forecast for Seeley Lake, issued by the Missoula office.⁴

How cold does Seeley Lake get in winter?

Cold. December and January average highs right around freezing (30.6 F and 32.0 F) and lows near 12 to 13 F, and nearly every night from November through March drops to 32 F or below.¹ The lowest temperature on record is -53 F, on January 7, 1937.³

How much snow does Seeley Lake get?

About 119 inches a year on average.¹ Most of it falls from November through March, with January (30.4 inches) and December (28.9 inches) the snowiest months. In the WRCC record, average snow depth on the ground peaked around 22 inches in February.² That snowpack is what supports the valley’s groomed ski and snowmobile trails; see the winter guide.

What each season feels like

Winter (December to March). Short days, highs near freezing, and steady snow. The Forest Service lists cross-country skiing and ice fishing among the area’s winter activities.¹⁰ Dress for single digits in the early morning even when afternoons feel mild.

Spring (April to May). A slow thaw. April still averages 4.5 inches of snow and about 24 freezing nights; by May highs reach the mid 60s but a dozen nights still drop to freezing.¹ Higher forest roads and trailheads can stay snowbound into spring; check with the Seeley Lake Ranger District (406-677-2233) before heading up.¹²

Summer (June to August). July and August average highs are about 83 F, lows in the low to mid 40s, and only about an inch of rain a month.¹ June is cooler and wetter (2.31 inches). Cool nights are the rule: bring a fleece for evenings on the water, and know that a freezing night is possible even in June.¹ The record high is 102 F, set July 7, 2007.³

Fall (September to November). September is mild (72.8 F average high) but averages about 8 frosty nights.¹ October cools fast, to a 56 F average high, and November turns to winter with 18 inches of snow on average.¹ Western larch turn gold in this window; see the fall larch guide.

Wildfire and smoke

Late summer, when rain is scarcest, is also fire season. The 2017 Rice Ridge Fire, started by lightning on July 24, grew to about 155,900 acres; the Seeley Lake area was under mandatory evacuation from August 28 to September 5 that year, and the lake was closed to boats for parts of August and September while aircraft drew water.⁶ We could not find an official count of smoke days for Seeley Lake, so we do not estimate one. If you are planning a late-summer trip, build in flexibility and check Lolo National Forest fire information,⁷ InciWeb⁸ and forest alerts and closures⁹ close to your dates. More on the 2017 fire is in our Rice Ridge Fire history.

Winter driving

Highway 83 is the main road through town, and November through March brings most of the year’s 119 inches of snow.¹ Before you drive, check Montana 511 (or dial 511) for road conditions, plow locations and traveler cameras.⁵ We found no official webcam for Seeley Lake itself; the 511 cameras are the verified option. Give yourself extra time, carry warm layers and a winter kit, and see getting here for routes and distances.

When does the lake freeze?

We could not find an authoritative dataset of ice-in or ice-out dates for Seeley Lake, so we do not publish one. Ice thickness varies year to year and lake to lake. FWP’s regulations allow ice fishing (with holes limited to 144 square inches, or 12 inches across, on waters not open to spearing),¹¹ but they do not tell you whether the ice is safe. Ask locally and check with the Seeley Lake Ranger District at 406-677-2233 before going out.¹²