Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fort Atkinson's normal year runs from 11°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 35.5 inches of precipitation and 36 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, 903 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFort Atkinson
- Station IDUSC00472869
- Location42.91°N 88.86°W
- Elevation800 ft (244 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population12,377
On October 23, the normal high in Fort Atkinson is 58°F and the normal low 37°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 Fort Atkinson.
- Jan 28° 11°
- Feb 32° 14°
- Mar 44° 25°
- Apr 57° 36°
- May 69° 48°
- Jun 79° 58°
- Jul 83° 62°
- Aug 81° 60°
- Sep 74° 51°
- Oct 61° 40°
- Nov 46° 29°
- 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 Fort Atkinson 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 (4.98 in), the least in February (1.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F | 11°F | 19.2°F | 1.51 | 10.7 | 9 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 14°F | 22.7°F | 1.43 | 9.4 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 25°F | 34.1°F | 1.96 | 4.0 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 36°F | 46.6°F | 3.56 | 1.2 | 12 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 48°F | 58.3°F | 4.13 | 0.2 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 58°F | 68.3°F | 4.98 | 0.0 | 12 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 62°F | 72.1°F | 4.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 81°F | 60°F | 70.1°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 51°F | 62.6°F | 3.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 40°F | 50.3°F | 2.84 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 46°F | 29°F | 37.2°F | 2.20 | 2.1 | 9 | <1 | 20 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 33°F | 18°F | 25.5°F | 1.71 | 8.7 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 37°F | 47.2°F | 35.54 | 36.4 | 120 | 11 | 146 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −12°C | −7.1°C | 38 mm | 27 cm |
| February | 0°C | −10°C | −5.2°C | 36 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 6°C | −4°C | 1.2°C | 50 mm | 10 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 90 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.6°C | 105 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 11°C | 17.0°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 4°C | 10.2°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8°C | −2°C | 2.9°C | 56 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 1°C | −8°C | −3.6°C | 43 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00472869; 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 Fort Atkinson?
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 USC00472869.
When is the last frost in Fort Atkinson?
In Fort Atkinson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 13 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 17; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 131 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 166 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fort Atkinson in zone 5b in ZIP code 53538, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fort Atkinson's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 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 USC00472869; 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 Fort Atkinson?
In a normal year in Fort Atkinson, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 146 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 120 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 146a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 58high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 120a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1941) is 103°F, on July 21, 2011; the lowest is −39°F, on February 3, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 43.66 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 86.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00472869; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00472869. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fort Atkinson?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fort Atkinson, 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 Fort Atkinson need?
A normal year in Fort Atkinson brings 7,101 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 672 cooling degree days, 26% 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 2,751 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,420 | 0 |
| February | 1,184 | 0 |
| March | 957 | 1 |
| April | 557 | 4 |
| May | 249 | 42 |
| June | 46 | 147 |
| July | 9 | 229 |
| August | 18 | 176 |
| September | 140 | 67 |
| October | 463 | 7 |
| November | 836 | 0 |
| December | 1,223 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,101 | 672 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00472869. 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 Fort Atkinson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.9°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.2°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.1°F | +1.9°F | 26.18 | 25.7 |
| 2022 | 46.6°F | −0.6°F | 37.58 | 27.0 |
| 2023 | 50.0°F | +2.8°F | 28.86 | 30.5 |
| 2025 | 47.9°F | +0.7°F | 28.31 | 29.3 |
Over 72 complete years from 1942 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00472869; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fort Atkinson's climate compare?
Fort Atkinson is warmer than 142 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 99. 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, Fort Atkinson 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 Fort Atkinson share this climate record?
3 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.
- Milton, WI5,778 people · 10 mi SW
- Lake Koshkonong, WI983 people · 5 mi SW
- Rockdale, WI204 people · 10 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 Fort Atkinson's climate
What is the coldest month in Fort Atkinson?
January, with a normal high of 28°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Fort Atkinson?
Yes: 36 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (10.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Fort Atkinson?
June, with 4.98 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fort Atkinson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fort Atkinson in zone 5b in ZIP code 53538, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fort Atkinson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Fort Atkinson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; 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
- Jefferson, WI7 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Whitewater, WI7 miles from this station, 47.0°F a year
- Lake Mills, WI12 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Sullivan, WI16 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