Manitowoc, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Manitowoc's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 31.4 inches of precipitation and 35 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.3°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 25°C, 799 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationManitowoc
- Station IDUSC00475017
- Location44.09°N 87.65°W
- Elevation584 ft (178 m)
- Population34,616
On October 22, the normal high in Manitowoc is 53°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 30%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Manitowoc.
- Jan 27° 13°
- Feb 29° 16°
- Mar 39° 25°
- Apr 50° 34°
- May 62° 44°
- Jun 72° 54°
- Jul 77° 60°
- Aug 76° 60°
- Sep 69° 53°
- Oct 56° 42°
- Nov 43° 30°
- Dec 32° 20°
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 Manitowoc each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.05 in), the least in February (1.24 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27°F | 13°F | 19.9°F | 1.78 | 7.8 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 29°F | 16°F | 22.6°F | 1.24 | 10.0 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 39°F | 25°F | 31.6°F | 1.75 | 3.2 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 50°F | 34°F | 42.2°F | 3.29 | 1.4 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 62°F | 44°F | 52.8°F | 3.44 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 72°F | 54°F | 63.0°F | 4.05 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 77°F | 60°F | 68.6°F | 3.50 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 76°F | 60°F | 68.0°F | 3.44 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 69°F | 53°F | 60.8°F | 2.42 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 42°F | 49.0°F | 2.91 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 43°F | 30°F | 36.7°F | 1.98 | 0.9 | 8 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 32°F | 20°F | 25.8°F | 1.65 | 11.1 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 38°F | 45.1°F | 31.45 | 34.6 | 104 | 3 | 139 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −10°C | −6.7°C | 45 mm | 20 cm |
| February | −1°C | −9°C | −5.2°C | 31 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 4°C | −4°C | −0.2°C | 44 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 10°C | 1°C | 5.7°C | 84 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 16°C | 7°C | 11.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 22°C | 12°C | 17.2°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 16°C | 20.3°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24°C | 16°C | 20.0°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20°C | 12°C | 16.0°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 6°C | 9.4°C | 74 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −1°C | 2.6°C | 50 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 0°C | −7°C | −3.4°C | 42 mm | 28 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475017; 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 Manitowoc?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00475017.
When is the last frost in Manitowoc?
In Manitowoc, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 3 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 301 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 171 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Manitowoc in zone 5b in ZIP code 54220. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Manitowoc's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (24 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 USC00475017; 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 Manitowoc?
In a normal year in Manitowoc, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 139 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 104 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 139a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 60high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 104a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 105°F, on July 11, 1936; the lowest is −29°F, on February 10, 1899.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1959, with 46.43 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 70.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00475017; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00475017. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Manitowoc?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Manitowoc, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (79%) and December the cloudiest (54%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | 1.4 |
| February | 62% | 2.3 |
| March | 66% | 3.4 |
| April | 67% | 4.5 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 6.0 |
| July | 79% | 6.1 |
| August | 77% | 5.2 |
| September | 75% | 4.0 |
| October | 65% | 2.5 |
| November | 61% | 1.6 |
| December | 54% | 1.1 |
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 Manitowoc need?
A normal year in Manitowoc brings 7,582 heating degree days, 41% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 359 cooling degree days, 60% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,113 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,397 | 0 |
| February | 1,187 | 0 |
| March | 1,037 | 0 |
| April | 684 | 0 |
| May | 383 | 6 |
| June | 116 | 55 |
| July | 28 | 139 |
| August | 29 | 122 |
| September | 160 | 35 |
| October | 498 | 2 |
| November | 849 | 0 |
| December | 1,215 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,582 | 359 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475017. 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 Manitowoc been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.9°F, 0.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 45.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.6°F | +2.5°F | 32.27 | 22.6 |
| 2022 | 45.1°F | at normal | 29.54 | 26.7 |
| 2023 | 48.0°F | +2.9°F | 25.60 | 27.4 |
| 2024 | 49.5°F | +4.4°F | 31.58 | 29.9 |
| 2025 | 45.9°F | +0.8°F | 26.86 | 43.0 |
Over 131 complete years from 1852 to 2025, 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 USC00475017; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Manitowoc's climate compare?
Manitowoc is warmer than 81 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 17. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.1°F is warmer than 20%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Manitowoc 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 Manitowoc 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.
- Whitelaw, WI746 people · 10 mi NW
- Francis Creek, WI671 people · 9 mi NW
- Clarks Mills, WI86 people · 10 mi W
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 Manitowoc's climate
What is the coldest month in Manitowoc?
January, with a normal high of 27°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Manitowoc?
Yes: 35 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Manitowoc?
June, with 4.05 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Manitowoc in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Manitowoc in zone 5b in ZIP code 54220. By the same method at Manitowoc's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −12°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Manitowoc?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Manitowoc in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Two Rivers, WI6 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Denmark, WI20 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Brillion, WI22 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Sheboygan, WI24 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made