Friendship, WI Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Friendship's primary NOAA station, FRIENDSHIP.
The climate verdict for Friendship
Winter sets the terms in Friendship, Wisconsin. A pronounced 55.1°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 45°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 45°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 35.1"
- annual precipitation · 52" snow
- 147 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Friendship: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00472973 · Friendship, WI 45°F mean · 35.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,304
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Greybull
- PRCP-MID 35.1"
- SWING-WIDE 55°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,811 HDD
- STN-1 USC00472973
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Greybull, WY (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WI station list.
- Friendship (this station) 45°F
- Cold Red Owl, SD 45°F
- Hot Sherburn, MN 45°F
- Near Greybull, WY 45°F
- Near Rushford, MN 45°F
Climate Living Index · Friendship
Friendship: 38/100 · grade F
Friendship publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Friendship, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 35.1 in · 0.1 from 35 in | 96/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 168 calendar days | 34/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 147 days/year | 23/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 45.0°F · 22.5° from 67.5°F | 20/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 52.0 inches/year | 20/100 · F |
Friendship · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Friendship is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 15.7°F and warmest-month mean 70.8°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 70.8°F
- Coldest month
- 15.7°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Friendship sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Friendship's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 81%
- Among 6,861 stations, Friendship sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 48th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 92%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Friendship is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Friendship compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Friendship's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F (-4°C) | 6°F (-14°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 1.3" | 11.9" | 30.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 30°F (-1°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 1.3" | 13.9" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 42°F (6°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.9" | 6.5" | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 3.4" | 2.5" | 16.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 2.7 | 0.7 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| July | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.5 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 2.5 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 3.5" | 0.0" | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| October | 59°F (15°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.5" | 0.2" | 12.4 | 0.0 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 1.9" | 2.2" | 23.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (-1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 1.6" | 14.8" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 168 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 5°F near January 24.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 14, then returns to freezing around October 30, covering 168 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 10, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 6 at 31%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 131 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 17 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Friendship.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 11.9"
9.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.9"
9.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.5"
9.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.5"
12.0 days with precipitation
13.7 days with precipitation
12.6 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
11.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.2"
9.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 14.8"
10.7 days with precipitation
Friendship runs a summer-peaked wet season
38% of Friendship's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is July at 4.6", on a wide 55.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: July, June, August, taking 38% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 1.3".
- Winter share: 12% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Friendship's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 131 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 35.1" between them, or roughly 0.27 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Friendship
Friendship averages 52.0 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 32 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 52.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 32 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 15% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 3
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 9
50% probability date
Growing Season
147 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,811
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
547
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WI closest to Friendship on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (45°F here).
- Alexandria, SD 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Bangor, ME 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Busby, MT 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Chiloquin, OR 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (35.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hicksville, OH 35.1" · 0.0" off
- Fort Dodge, IA 35.1" · 0.0" off
- Newton, IA 35.1" · 0.0" off
- Stillwater, MN 35.1" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Friendship
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Friendship logs 7,811 heating degree days, more than twice its 547 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 55.1°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 147 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Friendship coldest normal
January
Averaging 16°F (-9°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Friendship typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Friendship snow peak
December
Friendship averages 52.0 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Friendship's climate
How much snow does Friendship get? ▼
How cold does Friendship get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Friendship? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Friendship's primary station: FRIENDSHIP (USC00472973). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5527950). Match rule for Friendship: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Friendship comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.