Clinton, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Clinton's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 37.7 inches of precipitation and 38 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 28°C, 958 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationClinton Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Station IDUSC00471667
- Location42.55°N 88.88°W
- Elevation924 ft (282 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,302
On October 14, the normal high in Clinton is 61°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Clinton.
- Jan 27° 10°
- Feb 31° 15°
- Mar 44° 25°
- Apr 57° 36°
- May 69° 48°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 82° 61°
- Aug 80° 59°
- Sep 74° 51°
- Oct 60° 39°
- Nov 45° 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 Clinton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.45 in), the least in February (1.57 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 10°F | 18.8°F | 1.61 | 10.8 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 15°F | 23.0°F | 1.57 | 11.1 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 25°F | 34.4°F | 2.18 | 3.3 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 36°F | 46.6°F | 3.81 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 48°F | 58.1°F | 4.24 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 68.1°F | 5.45 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 61°F | 71.4°F | 3.73 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 80°F | 59°F | 69.4°F | 4.17 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 39°F | 49.6°F | 2.89 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 45°F | 28°F | 36.7°F | 2.36 | 2.1 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 33°F | 17°F | 24.9°F | 1.88 | 9.7 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 37°F | 47.0°F | 37.73 | 37.9 | 117 | 8 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −12°C | −7.3°C | 41 mm | 27 cm |
| February | 0°C | −10°C | −5.0°C | 40 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 6°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 55 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 97 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.5°C | 108 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.1°C | 138 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 20.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 4°C | 9.8°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | −2°C | 2.6°C | 60 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 0°C | −8°C | −3.9°C | 48 mm | 25 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471667; 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 Clinton?
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 USC00471667.
When is the last frost in Clinton?
In Clinton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 26 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 301 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 161 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 183 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 19 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Clinton in zone 5b in ZIP code 53525, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Clinton's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (15 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 USC00471667; 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 Clinton?
In a normal year in Clinton, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 117 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
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 59high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 117a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00471667.
How sunny is Clinton?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Clinton, 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 Clinton need?
A normal year in Clinton brings 7,156 heating degree days, 33% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 618 cooling degree days, 32% 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 2,687 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,432 | 0 |
| February | 1,175 | 0 |
| March | 950 | 1 |
| April | 555 | 3 |
| May | 251 | 37 |
| June | 45 | 138 |
| July | 12 | 210 |
| August | 21 | 159 |
| September | 139 | 64 |
| October | 485 | 7 |
| November | 849 | 0 |
| December | 1,245 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,156 | 618 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00471667. 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 Clinton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 48.0°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.0°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 45.1°F | −1.9°F | 33.68 | 32.0 |
| 2023 | 48.3°F | +1.3°F | 34.63 | 37.4 |
| 2025 | 48.0°F | +1.0°F | 36.28 | 33.1 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00471667. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Clinton's climate compare?
Clinton is warmer than 138 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 139. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.0°F is warmer than 28%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Clinton 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 Clinton share this climate record?
5 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.
- Poplar Grove, IL5,165 people · 14 mi S
- Capron, IL1,402 people · 12 mi SE
- Chemung, IL251 people · 14 mi SE
- Allens Grove, WI177 people · 6 mi E
- Shopiere, WI141 people · 3 mi NW
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 Clinton's climate
What is the coldest month in Clinton?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Clinton?
Yes: 38 inches in a normal year, falling on 18 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (11.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Clinton?
June, with 5.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.57 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Clinton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Clinton in zone 5b in ZIP code 53525, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Clinton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −16°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Clinton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Beloit, WI9 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Afton - Janesville Wastewater Treatment Plant, WI11 miles from this station, 47.8°F a year
- Delavan, WI12 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Whitewater, WI22 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made