5 Facts Proving Montana Weather is Insane

1. Montana was once colder than Mars. On January 6, 2015, Montana’s temperature plummeted to -61 degrees. The Mars Rover sends daily temperatures back to Earth and it ranged from -13 to -24 degrees that day.

2. Montana has experienced hurricane strength winds despite being nowhere near an ocean. In 1989, things got ridiculous. Because of arctic air mass Shelby saw winds of 100 mph, Augusta 114, Browning 117, and Cut Bank 124 mph. That is equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.

3. Montana once saw the temperature change 47 degrees...in only 7 minutes. On January 11, 1980, in Great Falls, the day started out with a chilly -32 degrees. But in seven minutes it rose to 15 degrees. This is the most rapid air change in the recorded history of the entire U.S.

4. Montana also saw a drop of 84 degrees...in 12 hours. How would you have liked to be outside on a warm 63-degree weather day, only to be freezing at -21 by midnight that same day? On December 14, 1924, in Fairfield, the temperature dropped 84 degrees from noon to midnight, only 12 hours apart.

5. Biggest range between coldest and hottest weather? You guessed it - Montana. On July 5, 1937, Montana recorded the hottest temperature it ever recorded when it reached 117 degrees at Medicine Lake near Glendive. On January 20, 1954, Rogers Pass (40 miles northwest of Helena) was a frigid -70 degrees, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Montana. This makes the all-time temperature range recorded in Montana 187 degrees...that is a larger range than any other state in the country!

-Info taken from the Blaine County Journal.