Burlington, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Burlington's normal year runs from 12°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 35.3 inches of precipitation and 38 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.8°C, January lows of −11°C, July highs of 27°C, 897 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBurlington
- Station IDUSC00471205
- Location42.65°N 88.25°W
- Elevation751 ft (229 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population10,939
On October 23, the normal high in Burlington is 57°F and the normal low 36°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 Burlington.
- Jan 28° 12°
- Feb 31° 14°
- Mar 43° 23°
- Apr 56° 34°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 77° 55°
- Jul 81° 59°
- Aug 80° 58°
- Sep 73° 50°
- Oct 60° 39°
- Nov 45° 28°
- Dec 33° 18°
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 Burlington each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 12°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.51 in), the least in February (1.76 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 12°F | 19.6°F | 1.82 | 12.1 | 9 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 14°F | 22.7°F | 1.76 | 9.7 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 43°F | 23°F | 33.1°F | 2.08 | 4.9 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 3.59 | 1.1 | 12 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.8°F | 3.96 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 55°F | 65.8°F | 4.51 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 81°F | 59°F | 70.2°F | 3.59 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 58°F | 68.6°F | 3.55 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 50°F | 61.2°F | 3.46 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 39°F | 49.3°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 28°F | 36.4°F | 2.38 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 33°F | 18°F | 25.4°F | 1.88 | 7.7 | 9 | <1 | 29 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 36°F | 46.1°F | 35.33 | 37.7 | 116 | 7 | 155 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −11°C | −6.9°C | 46 mm | 31 cm |
| February | 0°C | −10°C | −5.2°C | 45 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 6°C | −5°C | 0.6°C | 53 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 7.1°C | 91 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 13°C | 18.8°C | 115 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 20.3°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 88 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 4°C | 9.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | −2°C | 2.4°C | 60 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −8°C | −3.7°C | 48 mm | 20 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471205; 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 Burlington?
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 USC00471205.
When is the last frost in Burlington?
In Burlington, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 24 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 51 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 156 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Burlington in zone 5b in ZIP code 53105, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Burlington's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (28 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 USC00471205; 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 Burlington?
In a normal year in Burlington, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 155 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 116 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
- 155a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 59high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 116a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1951) is 105°F, on July 15, 1995; the lowest is −27°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 50.50 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 74.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00471205; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00471205. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Burlington?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Burlington, 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 | 63% | 1.7 |
| February | 67% | 2.6 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 69% | 4.7 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 79% | 5.4 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 69% | 2.8 |
| November | 66% | 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 Burlington need?
A normal year in Burlington brings 7,369 heating degree days, 37% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 500 cooling degree days, 45% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,417 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,407 | 0 |
| February | 1,184 | 0 |
| March | 991 | 0 |
| April | 611 | 2 |
| May | 313 | 26 |
| June | 78 | 102 |
| July | 18 | 177 |
| August | 27 | 138 |
| September | 163 | 49 |
| October | 492 | 5 |
| November | 858 | 0 |
| December | 1,228 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,369 | 500 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471205. 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 Burlington been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 46.3°F, 0.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.1°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.9°F | +1.8°F | 21.98 | 30.3 |
| 2022 | 45.2°F | −0.9°F | 31.31 | 28.2 |
| 2023 | 48.1°F | +2.0°F | 36.03 | 41.6 |
| 2025 | 46.3°F | +0.2°F | 31.19 | 30.4 |
Over 53 complete years from 1953 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.6°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00471205; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Burlington's climate compare?
Burlington is warmer than 109 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 94. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.1°F is warmer than 24%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Burlington 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 Burlington share this climate record?
Bohners Lake has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Bohners Lake, WI2,138 people · 2 mi SW
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 Burlington's climate
What is the coldest month in Burlington?
January, with a normal high of 28°F and a normal low of 12°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Burlington?
Yes: 38 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (12.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Burlington?
June, with 4.51 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.76 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Burlington in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Burlington in zone 5b in ZIP code 53105, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Burlington's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Burlington?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Rochester, WI6 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Pell Lake, WI9 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Lake Geneva, WI9 miles from this station, 49.4°F a year
- Paddock Lake, WI10 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made