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Crested Butte vs Gardiner

Dfc SubarcticBSk Cold semi-arid

Comparing Crested Butte change · Gardiner change

Bottom line

Gardiner is the warmer of the two — about 12°F on the annual average; Crested Butte is the wetter, with 14 in more rain a year, and Crested Butte the sunnier.

Warmer Gardiner 12°F on the year

Wetter Crested Butte 14 in more a year

Sunnier Crested Butte 9 pp less cloud

Colder winters Crested Butte 23°F colder nights

How the seasons compare

The differences between Crested Butte and Gardiner, in everyday terms.

Summers

Gardiner has much hotter summers

Crested Butte: Mild
Gardiner: Warm

Winters

Gardiner has far milder winters

Crested Butte: Bitterly cold
Gardiner: Very cold

Rain & snow

Crested Butte is much wetter

Crested Butte: Moderate rainfall
Gardiner: Very dry

Sky

Crested Butte is sunnier

Crested Butte: Partly cloudy
Gardiner: Often cloudy

Month-by-month charts

Temperature

Gardiner is the warmer of the two — about 12°F on the annual average.

Precipitation

Crested Butte is the wetter — about 14 in more across the year.

Clear skies

Crested Butte has the clearer skies — the higher line.

Exact monthly numbers

Tap a metric to open its full table. Desktop shows all twelve months; on a phone each metric splits into Jan–Jun and Jul–Dec.

Avg high (°F) Gardiner runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	26	30	38	47	58	71	76	74	66	55	40	27
Gardiner	34	37	48	57	67	77	87	86	75	59	43	33
Difference	+8	+8	+10	+10	+8	+6	+11	+12	+9	+4	+3	+6

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	26	30	38	47	58	71
Gardiner	34	37	48	57	67	77
Difference	+8	+8	+10	+10	+8	+6

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	76	74	66	55	40	27
Gardiner	87	86	75	59	43	33
Difference	+11	+12	+9	+4	+3	+6

Avg low (°F) Gardiner runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	-6	-2	7	19	28	34	39	39	31	22	9	-4
Gardiner	17	18	26	32	39	47	53	52	44	35	24	17
Difference	+23	+19	+18	+13	+11	+13	+14	+13	+13	+13	+14	+21

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	-6	-2	7	19	28	34
Gardiner	17	18	26	32	39	47
Difference	+23	+19	+18	+13	+11	+13

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	39	39	31	22	9	-4
Gardiner	53	52	44	35	24	17
Difference	+14	+13	+13	+13	+14	+21

Precipitation (in) Crested Butte runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	2.7	2.5	2.1	2	1.5	0.9	2	2	1.9	1.7	2	2.3
Gardiner	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.6	1.3	1.3	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.5
Difference	-2.3	-2.1	-1.4	-1.4	-0.2	+0.3	-1.2	-1.3	-1.1	-0.8	-1.2	-1.7

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	2.7	2.5	2.1	2	1.5	0.9
Gardiner	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.6	1.3	1.3
Difference	-2.3	-2.1	-1.4	-1.4	-0.2	+0.3

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	2	2	1.9	1.7	2	2.3
Gardiner	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.5
Difference	-1.2	-1.3	-1.1	-0.8	-1.2	-1.7

Snowfall (in) Crested Butte runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	41.7	35.3	27.3	18	6.9	0.3	0	0	1	8.1	26.1	34.6
Gardiner	4.4	2.6	2.2	1.3	0.6	0.1	0	0	0	0.4	4.5	3.8
Difference	-37.2	-32.8	-25.1	-16.7	-6.2	-0.2	—	—	-1	-7.6	-21.6	-30.8

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	41.7	35.3	27.3	18	6.9	0.3
Gardiner	4.4	2.6	2.2	1.3	0.6	0.1
Difference	-37.2	-32.8	-25.1	-16.7	-6.2	-0.2

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	0	0	1	8.1	26.1	34.6
Gardiner	0	0	0	0.4	4.5	3.8
Difference	—	—	-1	-7.6	-21.6	-30.8

Cloud cover (%) Gardiner runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	54	60	60	63	61	46	57	58	46	44	49	54
Gardiner	69	69	72	73	71	61	45	47	52	64	69	69
Difference	+14	+9	+13	+10	+10	+15	-11	-11	+6	+20	+21	+16

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	54	60	60	63	61	46
Gardiner	69	69	72	73	71	61
Difference	+14	+9	+13	+10	+10	+15

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	57	58	46	44	49	54
Gardiner	45	47	52	64	69	69
Difference	-11	-11	+6	+20	+21	+16

Relative humidity (%) Gardiner runs higher most of the year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	91	94	89	76	64	52	56	59	57	63	77	89
Gardiner	98	98	97	86	75	70	62	57	61	73	90	98
Difference	+7	+5	+8	+10	+10	+18	+6	-2	+4	+10	+13	+9

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Crested Butte	91	94	89	76	64	52
Gardiner	98	98	97	86	75	70
Difference	+7	+5	+8	+10	+10	+18

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crested Butte	56	59	57	63	77	89
Gardiner	62	57	61	73	90	98
Difference	+6	-2	+4	+10	+13	+9

How both climates are changing

Both cities are warming. Each city has its own warming trend; see its trends page for the year-by-year detail. Crested Butte trends → · Gardiner trends →

Methodology & sources

Crested Butte

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 30 years of daily observations at Crested Butte, a weather station, about 1 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

Gardiner

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 28 years of daily observations at Gardiner, a weather station, inside the city. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

How we build these numbers →

← change Crested Butte · change Gardiner → · Crested Butte page · Gardiner page