Deconstruct SunMissoula, MT: Hardiness Zone 5b & Sunlight by Season
Missoula is in USDA hardiness zone 5b. Here’s what that means for winter, plus sunrise, sunset, daylight hours and the sun’s path through the year.
Zone 5b in Missoula
On the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Missoula falls in zone 5b. That means the coldest night of a typical winter drops to between −15 and −10 °F. Perennials, shrubs and trees labeled for zone 5b or colder (a lower number) should survive the winter here.
A zone only covers winter cold. For a plant to do well it also needs the right amount of sun, and that varies far more from one corner of a yard to the next than the zone does across town.
This is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Zones are derived from the official 2023 dataset, resampled to about 2 km.
Nearby cities
- Butte, MT Zone 4a
- Kalispell, MT Zone 5b
- Helena, MT Zone 5a
- Great Falls, MT Zone 4b
- Coeur d'Alene, ID Zone 7a
- Bozeman, MT Zone 5a
- Spokane, WA Zone 7a
- Walla Walla, WA Zone 7b
The sun over Missoula
On the June solstice the sun rises in the northeast at 5:41 AM and climbs to 67° above the horizon at 1:38 PM. On the December solstice the noon sun reaches only 20°, so a 20-foot tree casts a noon shadow about 56 feet long. In June the same tree’s noon shadow is only 9 feet.
Sunrise, sunset & daylight by month
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Noon sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21 | 8:12 AM | 5:23 PM | 9h 11m | 23° |
| Feb 21 | 7:29 AM | 6:10 PM | 10h 40m | 33° |
| Mar 21 | 7:36 AM | 7:50 PM | 12h 14m | 44° |
| Apr 21 | 6:37 AM | 8:33 PM | 13h 56m | 55° |
| May 21 | 5:54 AM | 9:11 PM | 15h 18m | 63° |
| Jun 21 | 5:41 AM | 9:34 PM | 15h 53m | 67° |
| Jul 21 | 6:03 AM | 9:21 PM | 15h 18m | 64° |
| Aug 21 | 6:41 AM | 8:35 PM | 13h 54m | 55° |
| Sep 21 | 7:21 AM | 7:35 PM | 12h 14m | 44° |
| Oct 21 | 8:02 AM | 6:37 PM | 10h 35m | 32° |
| Nov 21 | 7:47 AM | 4:55 PM | 9h 08m | 23° |
| Dec 21 | 8:18 AM | 4:50 PM | 8h 32m | 20° |
Local time (Denver), including daylight saving time. “Noon sun” is the sun’s height above the horizon at solar noon.
Daylight through the year
What “full sun” means in Missoula
Full sun is 6+ hours of direct sun. In Missoula an open spot has 15.9 hours of daylight to work with in June and 8.5 in December, so a bed that clears 6 hours in summer can easily drop to part shade in winter once the low sun slips behind trees and houses.
Measure the sun in your Missoula yard
Daylight is the ceiling. Deconstruct Sun traces the trees and buildings around one exact spot and tells you its real direct-sun hours, today and at every solstice and equinox.
Questions
What hardiness zone is Missoula, MT in?
Missoula, Montana is in USDA plant hardiness zone 5b on the 2023 map. The average coldest winter night is −15 to −10 °F (−26.1 to −23.3 °C).
How many hours of daylight does Missoula get?
About 15.9 hours on the June solstice (sunrise 5:41 AM, sunset 9:34 PM) and 8.5 hours on the December solstice (sunrise 8:18 AM, sunset 4:50 PM). Around the equinoxes it is close to 12 hours.
How many hours of sun does my Missoula yard get?
Up to the daylight hours above, minus whatever trees, buildings and fences block. In winter, when the sun stays low, that can be most of it. The Deconstruct Sun iPhone app measures the real direct-sun hours for one exact spot by having you trace what is around it.
When is the best time to plant in Missoula?
Zone 5b tells you which perennials survive winter, not planting dates. For timing, use your local average frost dates from your county extension office, and choose plants rated for zone 5b or colder.
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, planthardiness.ars.usda.gov. Underlying data © PRISM Group, Oregon State University, prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed 2026-08-30. Sun times calculated for 46.874, -114.026.