When to paint a house exterior in Bozeman, MT
When to paint in Bozeman, MT
Exterior painting here is a gamble in any month. The painting window is not reliable in any month, with 0 good months a year. The best month is August, at about 2 painting days.
If you cannot avoid the thin months, ask the painter for a low-temperature latex and watch the forecast for a dry run of 4 days before you commit. No month here reliably has the dry back-to-back days deck stain needs, so consider a solid stain or a sealer you can apply in shorter breaks.
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Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 8° / 34°F |
| February | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 11° / 36°F |
| March | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 20° / 48°F |
| April | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 26° / 58°F |
| May | under 1 | under 1 | 9 | 36° / 67°F |
| June | 1 | 1 | 13 | 44° / 80°F |
| July | 2 | 1 | 12 | 49° / 89°F |
| August | 2 | 2 | 14 | 47° / 87°F |
| September | under 1 | under 1 | 16 | 40° / 77°F |
| October | under 1 | under 1 | 4 | 29° / 61°F |
| November | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 19° / 45°F |
| December | under 1 | under 1 | 1 | 11° / 36°F |
Deck stain does best in August. Low-temperature paint adds about 66 days a year here.
Towns near Bozeman compared
4 of the 6 nearest places get more painting days, the most in Cody (50 a year, 126 miles southeast). A gap like that between towns is usually elevation, a coast or a lake, which is why a painter from a few towns over can be on a different schedule. Belgrade is read from the same station as Bozeman, so its numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Bozeman | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade, MT | 9 mi northwest | 6 | none reliable | same station |
| Helena, MT | 78 mi northwest | 26 | June to August | Helena Regional Airport |
| Butte-Silver Bow, MT | 79 mi west | 5 | none reliable | Bert Mooney Airport |
| Billings, MT | 121 mi east | 38 | June to September | Billings Logan International |
| Cody, WY | 126 mi southeast | 50 | July to August | Yellowstone Regional Airport |
| Great Falls, MT | 126 mi north | 15 | none reliable | Great Falls International Air |
How Bozeman ranks in MT
Of 8 MT places with 10,000 people or more, Bozeman (population 57,894, 4th largest) ranks 6th for painting days, 4 days below the state median of 10. The longest season in the state is Billings, 38 days, 121 miles east. The shortest is Butte-Silver Bow at 5. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 66 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Gallatin Field Airport (8.9 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.