Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sturgeon Bay's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 78°F July afternoons, with 32.9 inches of precipitation and 57 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.7°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 26°C, 835 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSturgeon Bay Experiment Farm
- Station IDUSC00478267
- Location44.88°N 87.34°W
- Elevation699 ft (213 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population9,940
On October 14, the normal high in Sturgeon Bay is 57°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sturgeon Bay.
- Jan 25° 10°
- Feb 28° 12°
- Mar 38° 21°
- Apr 50° 32°
- May 62° 43°
- Jun 73° 53°
- Jul 78° 59°
- Aug 77° 58°
- Sep 69° 51°
- Oct 56° 39°
- Nov 42° 29°
- Dec 31° 19°
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 Sturgeon Bay each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 78°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.12 in), the least in February (1.34 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25°F | 10°F | 17.8°F | 1.71 | 15.6 | 11 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 28°F | 12°F | 20.0°F | 1.34 | 12.9 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 38°F | 21°F | 29.6°F | 1.90 | 8.6 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 50°F | 32°F | 41.0°F | 3.07 | 4.0 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 62°F | 43°F | 52.5°F | 3.32 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 73°F | 53°F | 62.8°F | 4.12 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 78°F | 59°F | 68.4°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 77°F | 58°F | 67.5°F | 3.32 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 69°F | 51°F | 59.9°F | 3.10 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 39°F | 47.7°F | 3.24 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 11 h |
| November | 42°F | 29°F | 35.6°F | 2.20 | 2.4 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 31°F | 19°F | 24.8°F | 1.97 | 13.7 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 36°F | 44.0°F | 32.86 | 57.4 | 124 | 2 | 152 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°C | −12°C | −7.9°C | 43 mm | 40 cm |
| February | −2°C | −11°C | −6.7°C | 34 mm | 33 cm |
| March | 3°C | −6°C | −1.3°C | 48 mm | 22 cm |
| April | 10°C | 0°C | 5.0°C | 78 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 17°C | 6°C | 11.4°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23°C | 12°C | 17.1°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 15°C | 19.7°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 10°C | 15.5°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 82 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −2°C | 2.0°C | 56 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 0°C | −7°C | −4.0°C | 50 mm | 35 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00478267; 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 Sturgeon Bay?
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 USC00478267.
When is the last frost in Sturgeon Bay?
In Sturgeon Bay, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 13 in half of years and before September 28 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 21; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 131 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 157 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 183 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 26 in half of springs and before October 28 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sturgeon Bay in zone 5b in ZIP code 54235, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sturgeon Bay's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (30 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 USC00478267; 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 Sturgeon Bay?
In a normal year in Sturgeon Bay, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 152 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 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
- 152a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 68high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 105°F, on July 13, 1936; the lowest is −29°F, on January 17, 1982.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 50.11 in; the snowiest season is 1908–09, with 118.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00478267; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00478267. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sturgeon Bay?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sturgeon Bay, 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 Sturgeon Bay need?
A normal year in Sturgeon Bay brings 7,965 heating degree days, 48% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 335 cooling degree days, 63% 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 2,030 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,463 | 0 |
| February | 1,260 | 0 |
| March | 1,097 | 0 |
| April | 719 | 0 |
| May | 394 | 5 |
| June | 117 | 49 |
| July | 29 | 135 |
| August | 35 | 112 |
| September | 185 | 32 |
| October | 539 | 1 |
| November | 881 | 0 |
| December | 1,246 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,965 | 335 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00478267. 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 Sturgeon Bay been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.1°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46.1°F | +2.1°F | 29.06 | 40.9 |
| 2022 | 43.5°F | −0.5°F | 33.22 | 51.3 |
| 2023 | 46.4°F | +2.4°F | 27.60 | 52.4 |
| 2024 | 48.3°F | +4.3°F | 35.73 | 48.5 |
| 2025 | 45.1°F | +1.1°F | 29.35 | – |
Over 99 complete years from 1906 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.7°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00478267; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sturgeon Bay's climate compare?
Sturgeon Bay is warmer than 53 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.0°F is warmer than 15%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sturgeon Bay 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 Sturgeon Bay share this climate record?
Little Sturgeon has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Little Sturgeon, WI111 people · 12 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 Sturgeon Bay's climate
What is the coldest month in Sturgeon Bay?
January, with a normal high of 25°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (78°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Sturgeon Bay?
Yes: 57 inches in a normal year, falling on 27 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (15.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Sturgeon Bay?
June, with 4.12 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.34 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sturgeon Bay in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sturgeon Bay in zone 5b in ZIP code 54235, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sturgeon Bay's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Sturgeon Bay?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; in one year in ten it comes after May 21. Waiting until May 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Forestville, WI13 miles from this station, 44.1°F a year
- Marinette, WI21 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Ephraim, WI22 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Peshtigo, WI22 miles from this station, 43.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made