Minocqua, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Minocqua's normal year runs from 1°F January nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 33.8 inches of precipitation and 99 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.2°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 25°C, 858 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMinocqua
- Station IDUSC00475516
- Location45.89°N 89.73°W
- Elevation1,601 ft (488 m)
- Population (census place)446
On October 23, the normal high in Minocqua is 49°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 42%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Minocqua.
- Jan 20° 1°
- Feb 25° 3°
- Mar 37° 13°
- Apr 49° 26°
- May 64° 39°
- Jun 73° 51°
- Jul 77° 54°
- Aug 75° 52°
- Sep 67° 45°
- Oct 52° 34°
- Nov 37° 22°
- Dec 25° 9°
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 Minocqua each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 1°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.36 in), the least in February (1.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°F | 1°F | 10.5°F | 1.27 | 20.4 | 11 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 25°F | 3°F | 14.0°F | 1.07 | 16.5 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 37°F | 13°F | 24.7°F | 1.72 | 16.9 | 9 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 49°F | 26°F | 37.4°F | 2.88 | 8.8 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 39°F | 51.6°F | 3.76 | 0.7 | 13 | <1 | 9 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 73°F | 51°F | 61.9°F | 4.36 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 77°F | 54°F | 65.5°F | 4.10 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 75°F | 52°F | 63.2°F | 3.65 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 67°F | 45°F | 55.6°F | 3.56 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 52°F | 34°F | 42.9°F | 3.67 | 2.9 | 14 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| November | 37°F | 22°F | 29.2°F | 2.08 | 12.8 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 25°F | 9°F | 17.0°F | 1.67 | 19.7 | 12 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 50°F | 29°F | 39.5°F | 33.79 | 98.7 | 133 | 2 | 199 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −7°C | −17°C | −11.9°C | 32 mm | 52 cm |
| February | −4°C | −16°C | −10.0°C | 27 mm | 42 cm |
| March | 3°C | −11°C | −4.1°C | 44 mm | 43 cm |
| April | 10°C | −4°C | 3.0°C | 73 mm | 22 cm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 10.9°C | 96 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11°C | 1°C | 6.1°C | 93 mm | 7 cm |
| November | 3°C | −6°C | −1.6°C | 53 mm | 33 cm |
| December | −4°C | −13°C | −8.3°C | 42 mm | 50 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475516; 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 Minocqua?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00475516.
When is the last frost in Minocqua?
In Minocqua, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 23 in half of years and after June 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 9 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 231 year in 10 after June 6; 9 in 10 after May 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 9; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 127 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 149 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 10 in half of springs and before October 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Minocqua in zone 4b in ZIP code 54568, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Minocqua's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (28 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 USC00475516; 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 Minocqua?
In a normal year in Minocqua, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 199 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 199a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 93high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 34a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 106°F, on July 13, 1936; the lowest is −48°F, on January 28, 1915.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 45.11 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 165.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00475516; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00475516. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Minocqua?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Minocqua, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 1.6 |
| February | 73% | 2.6 |
| March | 73% | 3.8 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 69% | 5.4 |
| June | 72% | 6.0 |
| July | 78% | 6.1 |
| August | 76% | 5.1 |
| September | 73% | 3.9 |
| October | 65% | 2.5 |
| November | 61% | 1.5 |
| December | 56% | 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 Minocqua need?
A normal year in Minocqua brings 9,476 heating degree days, 76% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 208 cooling degree days, 77% 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 1,670 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,691 | 0 |
| February | 1,429 | 0 |
| March | 1,249 | 0 |
| April | 827 | 0 |
| May | 427 | 11 |
| June | 139 | 47 |
| July | 68 | 85 |
| August | 105 | 48 |
| September | 297 | 16 |
| October | 686 | 1 |
| November | 1,073 | 0 |
| December | 1,486 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,476 | 208 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475516. 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 Minocqua been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 39.4°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 39.5°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40.6°F | +1.1°F | 32.03 | 66.6 |
| 2022 | 37.8°F | −1.7°F | 37.25 | 66.5 |
| 2023 | 41.2°F | +1.7°F | 30.03 | 91.6 |
| 2024 | 42.4°F | +2.9°F | 33.77 | 37.8 |
| 2025 | 39.4°F | −0.1°F | 29.67 | 68.6 |
Over 88 complete years from 1910 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00475516; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Minocqua's climate compare?
Minocqua is warmer than 0 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 53. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 39.5°F is warmer than 5%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Minocqua 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 Minocqua share this climate record?
2 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.
- Lac du Flambeau, WI1,619 people · 10 mi NW
- Woodruff, WI550 people · 2 mi E
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 Minocqua's climate
What is the coldest month in Minocqua?
January, with a normal high of 20°F and a normal low of 1°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Minocqua?
Yes: 99 inches in a normal year, falling on 45 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (20.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Minocqua?
June, with 4.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Minocqua in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Minocqua in zone 4b in ZIP code 54568, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Minocqua's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −26°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Minocqua?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 23; in one year in ten it comes after June 6. Waiting until June 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- St Germain, WI12 miles from this station, 39.5°F a year
- Willow Reservoir, WI14 miles from this station, 40.2°F a year
- Rest Lake, WI18 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Rhinelander, WI22 miles from this station, 41.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made