Kenosha, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Kenosha's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 31.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.6°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 29°C, 810 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKenosha Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00004845
- Location42.59°N 87.94°W
- Elevation743 ft (227 m)
- Population99,578
On October 23, the normal high in Kenosha is 59°F and the normal low 40°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 Kenosha.
- Jan 31° 16°
- Feb 35° 19°
- Mar 45° 28°
- Apr 57° 37°
- May 69° 47°
- Jun 79° 57°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 82° 61°
- Sep 75° 53°
- Oct 63° 43°
- Nov 49° 32°
- Dec 37° 22°
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 Kenosha each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.69 in), the least in February (1.07 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F | 16°F | 23.8°F | 1.19 | 8 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 35°F | 19°F | 26.8°F | 1.07 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 28°F | 36.6°F | 2.03 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 37°F | 47.1°F | 3.63 | 13 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 47°F | 58.1°F | 3.52 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 57°F | 67.8°F | 3.69 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 72.7°F | 3.35 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 82°F | 61°F | 71.2°F | 3.56 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 75°F | 53°F | 63.9°F | 3.36 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 43°F | 52.7°F | 2.90 | 11 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 32°F | 40.1°F | 2.05 | 9 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 37°F | 22°F | 29.5°F | 1.53 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 40°F | 49.2°F | 31.88 | 129 | 11 | 135 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.6°C | 30 mm |
| February | 2°C | −7°C | −2.9°C | 27 mm |
| March | 7°C | −2°C | 2.6°C | 52 mm |
| April | 14°C | 3°C | 8.4°C | 92 mm |
| May | 21°C | 8°C | 14.5°C | 89 mm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 94 mm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.6°C | 85 mm |
| August | 28°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 90 mm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.7°C | 85 mm |
| October | 17°C | 6°C | 11.5°C | 74 mm |
| November | 9°C | 0°C | 4.5°C | 52 mm |
| December | 3°C | −5°C | −1.4°C | 39 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Kenosha's own co-op station Kenosha station does: 36 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004845; 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 Kenosha?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USW00004845.
When is the last frost in Kenosha?
In Kenosha, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 1 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 13; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 174 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 196 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kenosha in zones 5b to 6a across its 4 ZIP code areas (5b in 53144, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Kenosha's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (22 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 USW00004845; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Kenosha ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Kenosha's 4 ZIP code areas run from zone 5b to 6a: 2 in 5b and 2 in 6a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Kenosha?
In a normal year in Kenosha, 11 days a year reach 90°F, 135 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 129 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
- 135a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 49high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 129a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1997) is 106°F, on July 5, 2012; the lowest is −28°F, on January 31, 2019.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 43.77 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00004845; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00004845. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Kenosha?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Kenosha, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and January the cloudiest (53%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 428th (with 16 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 53% | 1.4 |
| February | 58% | 2.3 |
| March | 65% | 3.4 |
| April | 67% | 4.5 |
| May | 68% | 5.3 |
| June | 74% | 5.9 |
| July | 79% | 6.0 |
| August | 78% | 5.2 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 67% | 2.7 |
| November | 62% | 1.8 |
| December | 54% | 1.2 |
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 Kenosha need?
A normal year in Kenosha brings 6,447 heating degree days, 20% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 722 cooling degree days, 20% 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 2,862 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,276 | 0 |
| February | 1,068 | 0 |
| March | 880 | 1 |
| April | 543 | 4 |
| May | 254 | 38 |
| June | 54 | 138 |
| July | 9 | 249 |
| August | 10 | 201 |
| September | 111 | 79 |
| October | 394 | 11 |
| November | 749 | 0 |
| December | 1,100 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,447 | 722 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004845. 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 Kenosha been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 53.4°F, 4.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.2°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.3°F | +2.1°F | – |
| 2022 | 49.1°F | −0.1°F | 27.03 |
| 2023 | 52.1°F | +2.9°F | 27.50 |
| 2024 | 53.4°F | +4.2°F | 37.97 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00004845. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Kenosha's climate compare?
Kenosha is warmer than 162 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 24. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.2°F is warmer than 37%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kenosha 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 Kenosha 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.
- Zion, IL24,583 people · 10 mi SE
- Beach Park, IL14,212 people · 11 mi S
- Somers, WI8,194 people · 4 mi NE
- Winthrop Harbor, IL6,565 people · 10 mi SE
- Wadsworth, IL3,502 people · 10 mi S
- Old Mill Creek, IL160 people · 11 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.
What do Kenosha's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Kenosha. This page uses Kenosha Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenosha station USC00474174 | 7 mi E | 600 ft | 48.4°F | 17°F | 80°F | 37.6 | 36 | April 19 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Kenosha's climate
What is the coldest month in Kenosha?
January, with a normal high of 31°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Kenosha?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Kenosha's NOAA station; Kenosha's own co-op station Kenosha station records 36 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Kenosha?
June, with 3.69 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kenosha in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kenosha in zones 5b to 6a across its 4 ZIP code areas (5b in 53144, the largest). By the same method at Kenosha's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Kenosha?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; in one year in ten it comes after May 13. Waiting until May 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kenosha in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Paddock Lake, WI8 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Union Grove, WI8 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Antioch, IL11 miles from this station, 48.6°F a year
- Chicago Waukegan Regional Airport, IL13 miles from this station, 48.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made