Flip-Flops and Flurries: Welcome To Montana Summers

How about that snow we got this week? Over a foot at the house on May 5th—didn’t see that coming. It piled up fast and caught a lot of us off guard who live in the Bozeman Pass.

Snow in May? Totally normal for Montana. But for the rest of the country, that’s the kind of thing that makes headlines. I remember a few years back, I was fishing in Ennis on the 4th of July. Pulled up to my campsite in flip-flops and a tank top, ready for sunshine and summer vibes. Four hours later, I was bundled up in layers—and yep, it started snowing.

That old saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes,” really hits home around here. Montana weather doesn’t follow the rules. It just does its own thing.

This week’s surprise storm around Bozeman got me thinking…

What are some of the biggest snowstorms in Montana history to hit during the summer months?

August 1992
In and around Great Falls, some areas saw up to 8.3 inches of snow. The National Weather Service called it an “unprecedented” weather event—and they weren’t kidding. To this day, nothing quite like it has happened again. In fact, they noted it was a...

“significant event, considering no snow had ever been measured in August at Great Falls in 100 years of record keeping.”

June 2024
Fast forward to just last year—Montana got hit with a winter storm warning in the higher elevations, including Big Sky and Bridger Bowl. And sure enough, on June 18th, the snow came down. Ski resorts even joked with the media about firing the lifts back up. Only in Montana, right?

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Something tells me this week’s snow won’t be the last taste of winter we see. If you’re in Montana, one thing’s for sure—always be ready for snow!