Alma, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Alma's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 37.2 inches of precipitation and 37 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.7°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 27°C, 944 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAlma Dam 4
- Station IDUSC00470124
- Location44.33°N 91.92°W
- Elevation670 ft (204 m)
- Population728
On October 14, the normal high in Alma is 59°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Alma.
- Jan 24° 8°
- Feb 29° 12°
- Mar 41° 24°
- Apr 56° 36°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 77° 58°
- Jul 81° 62°
- Aug 79° 61°
- Sep 71° 53°
- Oct 58° 41°
- Nov 42° 28°
- Dec 29° 15°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Alma each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.68 in), the least in January (0.95 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F | 8°F | 16.0°F | 0.95 | 9.9 | 9 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 12°F | 20.3°F | 1.01 | 8.6 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 24°F | 32.6°F | 1.85 | 6.6 | 8 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 36°F | 46.0°F | 3.51 | 1.6 | 11 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 58.0°F | 4.81 | 0.2 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 58°F | 67.7°F | 5.68 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 81°F | 62°F | 71.6°F | 4.59 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 61°F | 69.6°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 53°F | 62.1°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 41°F | 49.1°F | 2.61 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 11 h |
| November | 42°F | 28°F | 34.8°F | 1.92 | 1.8 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 29°F | 15°F | 22.2°F | 1.11 | 8.6 | 8 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 37°F | 45.8°F | 37.17 | 37.4 | 115 | 7 | 138 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −13°C | −8.9°C | 24 mm | 25 cm |
| February | −2°C | −11°C | −6.5°C | 26 mm | 22 cm |
| March | 5°C | −4°C | 0.3°C | 47 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 89 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.4°C | 122 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 25°C | 14°C | 19.8°C | 144 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 17°C | 22.0°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 16°C | 20.9°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 12°C | 16.7°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 5°C | 9.5°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 5°C | −2°C | 1.6°C | 49 mm | 5 cm |
| December | −2°C | −9°C | −5.4°C | 28 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00470124; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Alma?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (9).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00470124.
When is the last frost in Alma?
In Alma, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before September 29 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 281 year in 10 after May 9; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 29
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 168 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 190 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alma in zone 4b in ZIP code 54610, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Alma's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (30 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Wisconsin · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00470124; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Alma?
In a normal year in Alma, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 138 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 138a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1939) is 101°F, on June 11, 1956; the lowest is −38°F, on January 31, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 52.82 in; the snowiest season is 2018–19, with 79.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00470124; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00470124. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Alma?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Alma, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 1.8 |
| February | 77% | 2.9 |
| March | 74% | 4.0 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 69% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 6.0 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 75% | 4.1 |
| October | 67% | 2.7 |
| November | 65% | 1.7 |
| December | 62% | 1.3 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Alma need?
A normal year in Alma brings 7,551 heating degree days, 41% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 601 cooling degree days, 34% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,641 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,519 | 0 |
| February | 1,252 | 0 |
| March | 1,005 | 0 |
| April | 573 | 2 |
| May | 247 | 30 |
| June | 46 | 126 |
| July | 9 | 215 |
| August | 20 | 162 |
| September | 147 | 61 |
| October | 498 | 6 |
| November | 908 | 0 |
| December | 1,328 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,551 | 601 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00470124. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Alma been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.0°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.8°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.0°F | +2.2°F | 32.30 | 33.5 |
| 2024 | 50.5°F | +4.7°F | 38.23 | 22.7 |
| 2025 | 48.0°F | +2.2°F | 32.32 | 16.7 |
Over 57 complete years from 1940 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.4°F per century (+0.25°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00470124; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Alma's climate compare?
Alma is warmer than 99 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 127. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.8°F is warmer than 23%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Alma is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Alma share this climate record?
8 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- St. Charles, MN4,057 people · 26 mi S
- Plainview, MN3,498 people · 17 mi SW
- Wabasha, MN2,598 people · 7 mi NW
- Dover, MN771 people · 27 mi SW
- Altura, MN465 people · 18 mi S
- Kellogg, MN426 people · 4 mi W
- Elba, MN127 people · 17 mi S
- Minneiska, MN97 people · 9 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Alma's climate
What is the coldest month in Alma?
January, with a normal high of 24°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Alma?
Yes: 37 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (9.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Alma?
June, with 5.68 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.95 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Alma in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Alma in zone 4b in ZIP code 54610, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Alma's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Alma?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; in one year in ten it comes after May 9. Waiting until May 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Minnesota City, MN12 miles from this station, 46.3°F a year
- Theilman (1 mi SSW), MN14 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Durand, WI21 miles from this station, 45.1°F a year
- Mondovi, WI21 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made