Friendship, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Friendship's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 35.1 inches of precipitation and 52 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.2°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 28°C, 892 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFriendship
- Station IDUSC00472973
- Location43.98°N 89.83°W
- Elevation945 ft (288 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population678
On October 23, the normal high in Friendship is 55°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Friendship.
- Jan 25° 6°
- Feb 30° 9°
- Mar 42° 21°
- Apr 56° 33°
- May 69° 45°
- Jun 79° 56°
- Jul 82° 59°
- Aug 81° 57°
- Sep 73° 48°
- Oct 59° 37°
- Nov 44° 25°
- Dec 31° 14°
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 Friendship each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.64 in), the least in February (1.27 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 6°F | 15.7°F | 1.34 | 11.9 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 9°F | 19.6°F | 1.27 | 13.9 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 42°F | 21°F | 31.4°F | 1.91 | 6.5 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 33°F | 44.2°F | 3.39 | 2.5 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 45°F | 56.9°F | 4.19 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 56°F | 67.1°F | 4.48 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 59°F | 70.8°F | 4.64 | 0.0 | 11 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 81°F | 57°F | 68.8°F | 4.35 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 48°F | 60.5°F | 3.49 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 37°F | 47.7°F | 2.54 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 25°F | 34.5°F | 1.89 | 2.2 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 31°F | 14°F | 22.4°F | 1.61 | 14.8 | 11 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 34°F | 45.0°F | 35.10 | 52.0 | 131 | 11 | 169 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −14°C | −9.1°C | 34 mm | 30 cm |
| February | −1°C | −13°C | −6.9°C | 32 mm | 35 cm |
| March | 6°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 49 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 86 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.5°C | 114 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.6°C | 118 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.4°C | 110 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 15.8°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 8.7°C | 65 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −4°C | 1.4°C | 48 mm | 6 cm |
| December | −1°C | −10°C | −5.3°C | 41 mm | 38 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00472973; 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 Friendship?
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 (10).
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 USC00472973.
When is the last frost in Friendship?
In Friendship, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 19 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 91 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 147 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 166 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 29 in half of springs and before October 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Friendship in zone 4b in ZIP code 53934, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Friendship's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (18 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 USC00472973; 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 Friendship?
In a normal year in Friendship, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 169 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 131 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
- 169a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 69high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 131a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1930) is 104°F, on May 31, 1934; the lowest is −40°F, on January 7, 1942.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 50.09 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 93.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00472973; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00472973. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Friendship?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Friendship, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 1.7 |
| February | 73% | 2.8 |
| March | 72% | 3.8 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.8 |
| November | 66% | 1.8 |
| December | 60% | 1.3 |
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 Friendship need?
A normal year in Friendship brings 7,811 heating degree days, 45% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 547 cooling degree days, 40% 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 2,476 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,528 | 0 |
| February | 1,273 | 0 |
| March | 1,041 | 1 |
| April | 626 | 2 |
| May | 280 | 29 |
| June | 55 | 118 |
| July | 17 | 195 |
| August | 30 | 146 |
| September | 185 | 51 |
| October | 543 | 5 |
| November | 914 | 0 |
| December | 1,321 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,811 | 547 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00472973. 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 Friendship been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.6°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.8°F | +1.8°F | 31.31 | 37.1 |
| 2022 | 44.1°F | −0.9°F | 31.50 | 32.3 |
| 2023 | 47.8°F | +2.8°F | 27.10 | – |
| 2024 | 48.6°F | +3.6°F | 41.59 | 35.3 |
| 2025 | 45.6°F | +0.6°F | 37.45 | 33.3 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00472973. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Friendship's climate compare?
Friendship is warmer than 78 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 87. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.0°F is warmer than 19%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Friendship 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 Friendship 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.
- Adams, WI1,771 people · 2 mi SE
- Dellwood, WI572 people · 5 mi SW
- Arkdale, WI216 people · 4 mi NW
- Grand Marsh, WI127 people · 9 mi SE
- Easton, WI45 people · 10 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 Friendship's climate
What is the coldest month in Friendship?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Friendship?
Yes: 52 inches in a normal year, falling on 32 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (14.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Friendship?
July, with 4.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.27 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Friendship in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Friendship in zone 4b in ZIP code 53934, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Friendship's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Friendship?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; 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
- Mauston, WI17 miles from this station, 45.8°F a year
- Hancock, WI17 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Necedah, WI18 miles from this station, 45.3°F a year
- Wisconsin Dells, WI25 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made