Viroqua, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Viroqua's normal year runs from 6°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 38.0 inches of precipitation and 47 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.5°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 26°C, 965 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationViroqua
- Station IDUSC00478827
- Location43.56°N 90.88°W
- Elevation1,255 ft (383 m)
- Population4,407
On October 23, the normal high in Viroqua is 54°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Viroqua.
- Jan 23° 6°
- Feb 28° 10°
- Mar 40° 21°
- Apr 54° 33°
- May 66° 45°
- Jun 75° 55°
- Jul 79° 59°
- Aug 77° 57°
- Sep 70° 48°
- Oct 57° 36°
- Nov 41° 24°
- Dec 28° 13°
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 Viroqua each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 6°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.70 in), the least in February (1.14 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F | 6°F | 14.5°F | 1.16 | 11.3 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 28°F | 10°F | 18.6°F | 1.14 | 10.4 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 40°F | 21°F | 30.9°F | 1.99 | 7.1 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 33°F | 43.7°F | 3.98 | 3.8 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 66°F | 45°F | 55.4°F | 4.72 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 75°F | 55°F | 65.3°F | 5.70 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 79°F | 59°F | 69.0°F | 4.58 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 77°F | 57°F | 67.2°F | 4.58 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 70°F | 48°F | 59.3°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 57°F | 36°F | 46.7°F | 2.65 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 41°F | 24°F | 32.8°F | 1.98 | 4.0 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 28°F | 13°F | 20.8°F | 1.58 | 10.2 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 53°F | 34°F | 43.7°F | 38.00 | 47.2 | 111 | 3 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5°C | −14°C | −9.7°C | 29 mm | 29 cm |
| February | −2°C | −12°C | −7.4°C | 29 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 5°C | −6°C | −0.6°C | 51 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12°C | 1°C | 6.5°C | 101 mm | 10 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.0°C | 120 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 13°C | 18.5°C | 145 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 15°C | 20.6°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 14°C | 19.6°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 9°C | 15.2°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 2°C | 8.2°C | 67 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 5°C | −4°C | 0.4°C | 50 mm | 10 cm |
| December | −2°C | −10°C | −6.2°C | 40 mm | 26 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00478827; 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 Viroqua?
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 (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 USC00478827.
When is the last frost in Viroqua?
In Viroqua, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 7 in half of years and after May 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 18 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 71 year in 10 after May 21; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 148 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 168 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 27 in half of springs and before October 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Viroqua in zone 5a in ZIP code 54665, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Viroqua's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (25 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 USC00478827; 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 Viroqua?
In a normal year in Viroqua, 3 days a year reach 90°F, 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 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
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 75high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 108°F, on July 14, 1936; the lowest is −42°F, on January 15, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 54.30 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 77.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00478827; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00478827. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Viroqua?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Viroqua, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 1.8 |
| February | 75% | 2.9 |
| March | 72% | 3.9 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 74% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 69% | 2.8 |
| November | 67% | 1.8 |
| December | 62% | 1.4 |
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 Viroqua need?
A normal year in Viroqua brings 8,132 heating degree days, 51% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 396 cooling degree days, 56% 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 2,227 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,565 | 0 |
| February | 1,301 | 0 |
| March | 1,059 | 0 |
| April | 640 | 1 |
| May | 316 | 18 |
| June | 74 | 83 |
| July | 23 | 149 |
| August | 39 | 109 |
| September | 206 | 34 |
| October | 572 | 3 |
| November | 966 | 0 |
| December | 1,372 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,132 | 396 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00478827. 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 Viroqua been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 47.4°F, 3.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.7°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.9°F | +2.2°F | 34.95 | 33.8 |
| 2022 | 42.6°F | −1.1°F | 37.11 | – |
| 2023 | 46.6°F | +2.9°F | – | – |
| 2024 | 47.4°F | +3.7°F | – | 46.6 |
Over 104 complete years from 1893 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.9°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00478827; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Viroqua's climate compare?
Viroqua is warmer than 49 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 142. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.7°F is warmer than 14%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Viroqua 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 Viroqua share this climate record?
4 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.
- Westby, WI2,414 people · 7 mi N
- Viola, WI740 people · 11 mi E
- La Farge, WI705 people · 12 mi E
- Readstown, WI371 people · 10 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 Viroqua's climate
What is the coldest month in Viroqua?
January, with a normal high of 23°F and a normal low of 6°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Viroqua?
Yes: 47 inches in a normal year, falling on 30 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Viroqua?
June, with 5.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.14 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Viroqua in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Viroqua in zone 5a in ZIP code 54665, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Viroqua's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −20°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Viroqua?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 7; 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
- Cashton, WI14 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Gays Mills, WI17 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Genoa, WI17 miles from this station, 48.5°F a year
- Sparta, WI26 miles from this station, 44.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made