Arlington, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Arlington's normal year runs from 9°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 35.5 inches of precipitation and 43 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.8°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 902 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationArlington
- Station IDUSC00470308
- Location43.30°N 89.35°W
- Elevation1,052 ft (321 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population830
On October 23, the normal high in Arlington is 57°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Arlington.
- Jan 26° 9°
- Feb 31° 12°
- Mar 43° 23°
- Apr 57° 34°
- May 69° 46°
- Jun 79° 56°
- Jul 82° 60°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 73° 49°
- Oct 60° 38°
- Nov 44° 26°
- Dec 32° 16°
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 Arlington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 9°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.14 in), the least in January (1.24 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 9°F | 17.6°F | 1.24 | 10.7 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 12°F | 21.3°F | 1.40 | 11.2 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 43°F | 23°F | 33.0°F | 1.98 | 5.3 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 34°F | 45.4°F | 3.74 | 1.9 | 10 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 46°F | 57.5°F | 4.24 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 56°F | 67.5°F | 5.14 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 60°F | 71.0°F | 4.17 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 69.0°F | 3.80 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 49°F | 61.4°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 38°F | 49.1°F | 2.78 | 0.3 | 8 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 26°F | 35.4°F | 2.23 | 2.4 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 32°F | 16°F | 23.8°F | 1.45 | 10.7 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 36°F | 46.0°F | 35.51 | 42.6 | 105 | 8 | 164 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −8.0°C | 31 mm | 27 cm |
| February | −1°C | −11°C | −5.9°C | 36 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 6°C | −5°C | 0.6°C | 50 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 95 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.2°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.7°C | 131 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 3°C | 9.5°C | 71 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 57 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −9°C | −4.6°C | 37 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00470308; 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 Arlington?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00470308.
When is the last frost in Arlington?
In Arlington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 4 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 6 in half of years and before September 23 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
- May 41 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 177 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 22 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Arlington in zone 5a in ZIP code 53911, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Arlington's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (25 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Wisconsin · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00470308; 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 Arlington?
In a normal year in Arlington, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 164 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 105 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 164a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 64high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 105a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1962) is 103°F, on July 7, 2012; the lowest is −36°F, on January 18, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 46.44 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 87.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00470308; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00470308. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Arlington?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Arlington, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 1.7 |
| February | 73% | 2.8 |
| March | 72% | 3.8 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.8 |
| November | 66% | 1.8 |
| December | 60% | 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 Arlington need?
A normal year in Arlington brings 7,457 heating degree days, 39% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 566 cooling degree days, 38% 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 2,561 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,471 | 0 |
| February | 1,222 | 0 |
| March | 994 | 0 |
| April | 590 | 2 |
| May | 265 | 31 |
| June | 51 | 124 |
| July | 13 | 199 |
| August | 26 | 150 |
| September | 162 | 54 |
| October | 498 | 5 |
| November | 888 | 0 |
| December | 1,277 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,457 | 566 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00470308. 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 Arlington been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.1°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.8°F | +1.8°F | 22.41 | 32.4 |
| 2022 | 45.1°F | −0.9°F | 35.07 | 39.6 |
| 2023 | 48.6°F | +2.6°F | 27.88 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 49.5°F | +3.5°F | 44.23 | 49.8 |
| 2025 | 46.1°F | +0.1°F | 28.43 | 32.3 |
Over 52 complete years from 1966 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.1°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00470308; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Arlington's climate compare?
Arlington is warmer than 106 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 95. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.0°F is warmer than 23%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Arlington 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 Arlington share this climate record?
4 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.
- DeForest, WI12,260 people · 5 mi S
- Windsor, WI10,005 people · 5 mi SE
- Poynette, WI2,834 people · 7 mi NW
- Doylestown, WI274 people · 13 mi NE
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 Arlington's climate
What is the coldest month in Arlington?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 9°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Arlington?
Yes: 43 inches in a normal year, falling on 22 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (11.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Arlington?
June, with 5.14 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Arlington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Arlington in zone 5a in ZIP code 53911, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Arlington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Arlington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 4; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lodi, WI9 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Madison, WI11 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Portage, WI16 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Charmany Farm, WI18 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made