Rhinelander, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rhinelander's normal year runs from 4°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 29.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.2°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 27°C, 753 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRhinelander Oneida County Airport
- Station IDUSW00004803
- Location45.63°N 89.47°W
- Elevation1,599 ft (487 m)
- Population8,286
On October 23, the normal high in Rhinelander is 51°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 40%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rhinelander.
- Jan 23° 4°
- Feb 27° 6°
- Mar 39° 17°
- Apr 52° 29°
- May 66° 41°
- Jun 76° 50°
- Jul 80° 54°
- Aug 77° 52°
- Sep 69° 45°
- Oct 55° 34°
- Nov 39° 23°
- Dec 27° 11°
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 Rhinelander each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 4°F. The most precipitation falls in July (4.02 in), the least in February (0.79 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 | 23°F | 4°F | 13.1°F | 0.83 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 27°F | 6°F | 16.3°F | 0.79 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 39°F | 17°F | 27.9°F | 1.52 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 52°F | 29°F | 40.6°F | 2.65 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 66°F | 41°F | 53.5°F | 3.42 | 14 | <1 | 7 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 50°F | 62.9°F | 3.93 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 80°F | 54°F | 67.1°F | 4.02 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 77°F | 52°F | 64.9°F | 3.09 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 69°F | 45°F | 56.9°F | 3.48 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 55°F | 34°F | 44.3°F | 2.95 | 13 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 39°F | 23°F | 30.9°F | 1.75 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 27°F | 11°F | 18.9°F | 1.20 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 30°F | 41.4°F | 29.63 | 131 | 4 | 185 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −16°C | −10.5°C | 21 mm |
| February | −3°C | −15°C | −8.7°C | 20 mm |
| March | 4°C | −8°C | −2.3°C | 39 mm |
| April | 11°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 67 mm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 87 mm |
| June | 24°C | 10°C | 17.2°C | 100 mm |
| July | 27°C | 12°C | 19.5°C | 102 mm |
| August | 25°C | 11°C | 18.3°C | 78 mm |
| September | 21°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 88 mm |
| October | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 75 mm |
| November | 4°C | −5°C | −0.6°C | 44 mm |
| December | −3°C | −12°C | −7.3°C | 30 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Rhinelander's own co-op station Rhinelander station does: 62 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004803; 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 Rhinelander?
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 (11).
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 USW00004803.
When is the last frost in Rhinelander?
In Rhinelander, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 26 in half of years and after June 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 23 in half of years and before September 5 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 261 year in 10 after June 8; 9 in 10 after May 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 231 year in 10 before September 5; 9 in 10 before October 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 120 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 142 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before October 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rhinelander in zone 4b in ZIP code 54501, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rhinelander's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (21 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 USW00004803; 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 Rhinelander?
In a normal year in Rhinelander, 4 days a year reach 90°F, 185 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 131 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 185a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 89high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 131a normal year
The highest temperature in Rhinelander's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1893) is 108°F, on July 13, 1936; the lowest is −42°F, on February 3, 1996.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 43.15 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 122.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00004803; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record RHIthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rhinelander?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rhinelander, 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 Rhinelander need?
A normal year in Rhinelander brings 8,832 heating degree days, 64% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 283 cooling degree days, 69% 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 1,880 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,607 | 0 |
| February | 1,364 | 0 |
| March | 1,150 | 0 |
| April | 731 | 1 |
| May | 370 | 13 |
| June | 120 | 57 |
| July | 49 | 112 |
| August | 77 | 73 |
| September | 270 | 25 |
| October | 643 | 2 |
| November | 1,022 | 0 |
| December | 1,429 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,832 | 283 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00004803. 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 Rhinelander been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 41.3°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 41.4°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42.7°F | +1.3°F | 31.95 |
| 2022 | 39.9°F | −1.5°F | 30.78 |
| 2023 | 43.4°F | +2.0°F | 27.24 |
| 2024 | 44.9°F | +3.5°F | 29.50 |
| 2025 | 41.3°F | −0.1°F | 30.44 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00004803. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rhinelander's climate compare?
Rhinelander is warmer than 19 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 41.4°F is warmer than 8%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rhinelander 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.
What do Rhinelander's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Rhinelander. This page uses Rhinelander Oneida County Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhinelander (4 mi NE) USC00477115 | 8 mi E | 1,586 ft | 40.5°F | 2°F | 78°F | 32.5 | 70 | May 23 |
| Rhinelander station USC00477113 | 2 mi S | 1,572 ft | 40.0°F | 0°F | 78°F | 34.4 | 62 | May 22 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Rhinelander's climate
What is the coldest month in Rhinelander?
January, with a normal high of 23°F and a normal low of 4°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Rhinelander?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Rhinelander's NOAA station; Rhinelander's own co-op station Rhinelander station records 62 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Rhinelander?
July, with 4.02 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.79 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rhinelander in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rhinelander in zone 4b in ZIP code 54501, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rhinelander's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −25°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Rhinelander?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 26; in one year in ten it comes after June 8. Waiting until June 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Rhinelander in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- North Pelican, WI11 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Rice Reservoir Tomahawk-2, WI14 miles from this station, 40.7°F a year
- Willow Reservoir, WI19 miles from this station, 40.2°F a year
- St Germain, WI20 miles from this station, 39.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made