Hancock, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hancock's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 34.3 inches of precipitation and 43 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 28°C, 870 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHancock Experiment Farm
- Station IDUSC00473405
- Location44.12°N 89.54°W
- Elevation1,092 ft (333 m)
- Population398
On October 14, the normal high in Hancock is 59°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hancock.
- Jan 25° 7°
- Feb 30° 10°
- Mar 41° 21°
- Apr 55° 33°
- May 68° 45°
- Jun 77° 55°
- Jul 82° 59°
- Aug 79° 57°
- Sep 72° 49°
- Oct 58° 37°
- Nov 43° 26°
- Dec 30° 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 Hancock each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.95 in), the least in February (0.97 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 7°F | 15.9°F | 1.14 | 12.8 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 30°F | 10°F | 19.6°F | 0.97 | 8.2 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 41°F | 21°F | 31.3°F | 1.86 | 8.3 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 55°F | 33°F | 44.0°F | 3.57 | 2.7 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 45°F | 56.6°F | 4.19 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 77°F | 55°F | 66.3°F | 4.95 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 82°F | 59°F | 70.1°F | 4.15 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 57°F | 68.3°F | 4.02 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 49°F | 60.4°F | 3.31 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 37°F | 47.8°F | 2.71 | 0.3 | 10 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 43°F | 26°F | 34.1°F | 1.98 | 3.3 | 8 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 30°F | 14°F | 21.8°F | 1.42 | 7.5 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 34°F | 44.7°F | 34.27 | 43.1 | 115 | 7 | 160 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −14°C | −8.9°C | 29 mm | 33 cm |
| February | −1°C | −12°C | −6.9°C | 25 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.4°C | 47 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 13°C | 0°C | 6.7°C | 91 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.7°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 13°C | 19.1°C | 126 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 10°C | 15.8°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 8.8°C | 69 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 1.2°C | 50 mm | 8 cm |
| December | −1°C | −10°C | −5.7°C | 36 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00473405; 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 Hancock?
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 USC00473405.
When is the last frost in Hancock?
In Hancock, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 10 in half of years and after May 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 20 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 101 year in 10 after May 24; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 146 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 166 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hancock in zone 4b in ZIP code 54943, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hancock's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°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 USC00473405; 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 Hancock?
In a normal year in Hancock, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 160 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 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
- 160a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 71high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 112°F, on July 14, 1936; the lowest is −43°F, on January 30, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 44.82 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 85.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00473405; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00473405. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hancock?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hancock, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 75% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 73% | 6.0 |
| July | 79% | 6.2 |
| August | 77% | 5.2 |
| September | 75% | 4.1 |
| October | 67% | 2.6 |
| November | 64% | 1.7 |
| 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 Hancock need?
A normal year in Hancock brings 7,864 heating degree days, 46% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 502 cooling degree days, 45% 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 2,407 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,522 | 0 |
| February | 1,270 | 0 |
| March | 1,047 | 1 |
| April | 632 | 2 |
| May | 289 | 30 |
| June | 67 | 106 |
| July | 19 | 178 |
| August | 33 | 135 |
| September | 182 | 46 |
| October | 539 | 4 |
| November | 927 | 0 |
| December | 1,338 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,864 | 502 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00473405. 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 Hancock been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 48.6°F, 3.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.3°F | +1.6°F | 29.84 | – |
| 2022 | 43.7°F | −1.0°F | 32.96 | – |
| 2023 | 47.5°F | +2.8°F | 29.24 | – |
| 2024 | 48.6°F | +3.9°F | 40.89 | 39.9 |
Over 95 complete years from 1905 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.1°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00473405; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hancock's climate compare?
Hancock is warmer than 68 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 73. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.7°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hancock 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 Hancock share this climate record?
6 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.
- Wautoma, WI2,371 people · 13 mi E
- Plainfield, WI920 people · 7 mi N
- Wild Rose, WI794 people · 15 mi E
- Bancroft, WI623 people · 13 mi N
- Coloma, WI452 people · 6 mi S
- Almond, WI418 people · 12 mi NE
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 Hancock's climate
What is the coldest month in Hancock?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Hancock?
Yes: 43 inches in a normal year, falling on 26 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (12.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Hancock?
June, with 4.95 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.97 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hancock in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hancock in zone 4b in ZIP code 54943, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hancock's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −19°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Hancock?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 10; in one year in ten it comes after May 24. Waiting until May 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Friendship, WI17 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Wisconsin Rapids, WI22 miles from this station, 44.8°F a year
- Montello, WI25 miles from this station, 45.6°F a year
- Stevens Point, WI27 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made