Brodhead, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Brodhead's normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 38.3 inches of precipitation and 37 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.4°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 28°C, 973 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBrodhead Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00471078
- Location42.62°N 89.39°W
- Elevation780 ft (238 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population3,229
On October 14, the normal high in Brodhead is 63°F and the normal low 39°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 Brodhead.
- Jan 27° 11°
- Feb 32° 14°
- Mar 44° 25°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 70° 47°
- Jun 80° 57°
- Jul 83° 61°
- Aug 81° 59°
- Sep 75° 50°
- Oct 62° 39°
- Nov 46° 28°
- Dec 33° 17°
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 Brodhead each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.56 in), the least in January (1.59 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 11°F | 19.0°F | 1.59 | 10.3 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 14°F | 22.7°F | 1.75 | 9.3 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 25°F | 34.5°F | 2.11 | 4.5 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.9°F | 3.73 | 0.9 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 70°F | 47°F | 58.6°F | 4.18 | 0.1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 80°F | 57°F | 68.6°F | 5.56 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 61°F | 72.0°F | 4.00 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 81°F | 59°F | 70.1°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 50°F | 62.4°F | 3.78 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 39°F | 50.2°F | 2.94 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 28°F | 36.9°F | 2.35 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 33°F | 17°F | 25.0°F | 1.96 | 9.7 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 37°F | 47.2°F | 38.30 | 37.3 | 122 | 12 | 151 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −12°C | −7.2°C | 40 mm | 26 cm |
| February | 0°C | −10°C | −5.2°C | 44 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.4°C | 54 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 15°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 95 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 10°C | 16.9°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 75 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 8°C | −2°C | 2.7°C | 60 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −8°C | −3.9°C | 50 mm | 25 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471078; 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 Brodhead?
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 USC00471078.
When is the last frost in Brodhead?
In Brodhead, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 28 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 291 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 187 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 17 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Brodhead in zone 5a in ZIP code 53520, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Brodhead's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 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 USC00471078; 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 Brodhead?
In a normal year in Brodhead, 12 days a year reach 90°F, 151 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 122 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 12a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 151a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 57high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 122a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 111°F, on July 21, 1901; the lowest is −36°F, on January 30, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 50.01 in; the snowiest season is 1950–51, with 76.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00471078; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00471078. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Brodhead?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Brodhead, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 1.8 |
| February | 70% | 2.8 |
| March | 69% | 3.8 |
| April | 68% | 4.7 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.4 |
| October | 70% | 2.9 |
| November | 67% | 1.9 |
| December | 61% | 1.4 |
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 Brodhead need?
A normal year in Brodhead brings 7,104 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 667 cooling degree days, 27% 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 2,750 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,427 | 0 |
| February | 1,184 | 0 |
| March | 946 | 0 |
| April | 547 | 3 |
| May | 240 | 42 |
| June | 41 | 149 |
| July | 8 | 226 |
| August | 17 | 176 |
| September | 143 | 64 |
| October | 466 | 7 |
| November | 843 | 0 |
| December | 1,240 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,104 | 667 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471078. 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 Brodhead been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.2°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.2°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.8°F | +0.6°F | 23.33 | 37.2 |
| 2022 | 46.3°F | −0.9°F | 39.41 | 29.6 |
| 2023 | 49.5°F | +2.3°F | 29.10 | 35.8 |
| 2024 | 50.7°F | +3.5°F | 41.69 | 24.1 |
| 2025 | 48.2°F | +1.0°F | 29.51 | 32.8 |
Over 97 complete years from 1899 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00471078; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Brodhead's climate compare?
Brodhead is warmer than 142 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 143. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.2°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Brodhead is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Brodhead share this climate record?
7 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.
- Lake Summerset, IL2,240 people · 11 mi S
- Orfordville, WI1,598 people · 7 mi E
- Durand, IL1,383 people · 13 mi S
- Albany, WI1,094 people · 7 mi NW
- Davis, IL568 people · 14 mi S
- Juda, WI382 people · 7 mi W
- Rock City, IL287 people · 15 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 Brodhead's climate
What is the coldest month in Brodhead?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Brodhead?
Yes: 37 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (10.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Brodhead?
June, with 5.56 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.59 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Brodhead in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Brodhead in zone 5a in ZIP code 53520, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Brodhead's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −17°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Brodhead?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Monroe, WI14 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Afton - Janesville Wastewater Treatment Plant, WI16 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Beloit, WI20 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Stoughton, WI22 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made