Rice Lake, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rice Lake's normal year runs from 2°F January nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 31.4 inches of precipitation and 53 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.1°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 27°C, 798 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRice Lake
- Station IDUSC00477132
- Location45.42°N 91.77°W
- Elevation1,103 ft (336 m)
- Population8,971
On October 24, the normal high in Rice Lake is 53°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rice Lake.
- Jan 22° 2°
- Feb 27° 5°
- Mar 40° 18°
- Apr 54° 32°
- May 68° 45°
- Jun 77° 55°
- Jul 81° 59°
- Aug 80° 56°
- Sep 71° 48°
- Oct 57° 35°
- Nov 40° 23°
- Dec 27° 10°
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 Rice Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 2°F. The most precipitation falls in August (4.21 in), the least in February (0.82 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F | 2°F | 11.6°F | 0.89 | 10.5 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 27°F | 5°F | 16.0°F | 0.82 | 10.7 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 40°F | 18°F | 28.9°F | 1.47 | 8.9 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 32°F | 43.0°F | 2.77 | 3.5 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 45°F | 56.2°F | 3.85 | 0.5 | 12 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 77°F | 55°F | 66.0°F | 4.17 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 59°F | 70.1°F | 3.98 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 80°F | 56°F | 67.9°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 71°F | 48°F | 59.6°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 57°F | 35°F | 46.1°F | 3.03 | 0.8 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 40°F | 23°F | 31.7°F | 1.68 | 5.7 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 27°F | 10°F | 18.5°F | 1.22 | 11.9 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 54°F | 32°F | 43.0°F | 31.43 | 52.5 | 111 | 6 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6°C | −17°C | −11.3°C | 23 mm | 27 cm |
| February | −3°C | −15°C | −8.9°C | 21 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 4°C | −8°C | −1.7°C | 37 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 70 mm | 9 cm |
| May | 20°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 98 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 25°C | 13°C | 18.9°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 15°C | 21.2°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.9°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 77 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 5°C | −5°C | −0.2°C | 43 mm | 14 cm |
| December | −3°C | −12°C | −7.5°C | 31 mm | 30 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00477132; 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 Rice Lake?
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 (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 USC00477132.
When is the last frost in Rice Lake?
In Rice Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 19 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 81 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 145 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rice Lake in zone 4b in ZIP code 54868, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rice Lake's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (29 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 USC00477132; 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 Rice Lake?
In a normal year in Rice Lake, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 83high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 19a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1982) is 101°F, on August 1, 2006; the lowest is −40°F, on December 19, 1983.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 42.47 in; the snowiest season is 2013–14, with 89.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00477132; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00477132. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rice Lake?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rice Lake, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (78%) and December the cloudiest (57%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 1.7 |
| February | 76% | 2.8 |
| March | 73% | 3.9 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 68% | 5.4 |
| June | 73% | 6.0 |
| July | 78% | 6.2 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 74% | 4.0 |
| October | 66% | 2.5 |
| November | 62% | 1.6 |
| December | 57% | 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 Rice Lake need?
A normal year in Rice Lake brings 8,464 heating degree days, 58% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 473 cooling degree days, 48% 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 2,315 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,654 | 0 |
| February | 1,372 | 0 |
| March | 1,121 | 0 |
| April | 662 | 1 |
| May | 296 | 25 |
| June | 71 | 101 |
| July | 19 | 177 |
| August | 36 | 126 |
| September | 202 | 40 |
| October | 590 | 3 |
| November | 1,001 | 0 |
| December | 1,440 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,464 | 473 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00477132. 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 Rice Lake been warmer than normal lately?
Over 53 complete years from 1952 to 2021, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rice Lake's climate compare?
Rice Lake is warmer than 39 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 16. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.0°F is warmer than 12%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rice Lake 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 Rice Lake 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.
- Barron, WI3,674 people · 4 mi W
- Chetek, WI2,169 people · 9 mi SE
- Cameron, WI1,851 people · 2 mi SE
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 Rice Lake's climate
What is the coldest month in Rice Lake?
January, with a normal high of 22°F and a normal low of 2°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Rice Lake?
Yes: 53 inches in a normal year, falling on 27 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (11.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Rice Lake?
August, with 4.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.82 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rice Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rice Lake in zone 4b in ZIP code 54868, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rice Lake's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −23°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Rice Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cumberland, WI14 miles from this station, 41.3°F a year
- Ridgeland, WI15 miles from this station, 42.4°F a year
- Weyerhaeuser, WI17 miles from this station, 43.4°F a year
- Bloomer, WI27 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made