Wauwatosa, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wauwatosa's normal year runs from 14°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 33.8 inches of precipitation and 40 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 28°C, 859 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMount Mary College
- Station IDUSC00475474
- Location43.07°N 88.03°W
- Elevation715 ft (218 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population48,794
On October 14, the normal high in Wauwatosa is 62°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 34%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wauwatosa.
- Jan 30° 14°
- Feb 34° 17°
- Mar 44° 26°
- Apr 56° 36°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 78° 58°
- Jul 83° 63°
- Aug 81° 62°
- Sep 74° 53°
- Oct 61° 42°
- Nov 47° 30°
- Dec 35° 21°
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 Wauwatosa each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.84 in), the least in January (1.48 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 14°F | 21.9°F | 1.48 | 11.0 | 10 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 34°F | 17°F | 25.1°F | 1.49 | 9.9 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 44°F | 26°F | 35.1°F | 1.79 | 5.3 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 36°F | 46.1°F | 3.71 | 1.5 | 12 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 57.5°F | 3.73 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 58°F | 67.9°F | 4.84 | 0.0 | 11 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 63°F | 73.1°F | 3.57 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 81°F | 62°F | 71.2°F | 3.68 | 0.0 | 10 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 74°F | 53°F | 63.6°F | 3.02 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 42°F | 51.2°F | 2.73 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 30°F | 38.5°F | 2.05 | 2.0 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 21°F | 27.9°F | 1.73 | 9.8 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 39°F | 48.2°F | 33.82 | 39.5 | 120 | 17 | 134 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −10°C | −5.6°C | 38 mm | 28 cm |
| February | 1°C | −8°C | −3.8°C | 38 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 7°C | −3°C | 1.7°C | 45 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 13°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 94 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.2°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 14°C | 19.9°C | 123 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 17°C | 21.8°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 12°C | 17.6°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 5°C | 10.7°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.6°C | 52 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 2°C | −6°C | −2.3°C | 44 mm | 25 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475474; 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 Wauwatosa?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September 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 USC00475474.
When is the last frost in Wauwatosa?
In Wauwatosa, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 18 in half of years and before October 2 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
- April 261 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 181 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 196 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wauwatosa in zone 5b across its 4 ZIP code areas (5b in 53226, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wauwatosa's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (26 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 USC00475474; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Wauwatosa ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Wauwatosa's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 5b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Wauwatosa?
In a normal year in Wauwatosa, 17 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 134 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 120 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 134a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 46high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 120a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1946) is 108°F, on July 13, 1995; the lowest is −27°F, on January 30, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 42.09 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 91.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00475474; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00475474. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wauwatosa?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wauwatosa, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 1.6 |
| February | 70% | 2.7 |
| March | 70% | 3.7 |
| April | 68% | 4.6 |
| May | 71% | 5.5 |
| June | 76% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.3 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.7 |
| November | 66% | 1.8 |
| December | 59% | 1.3 |
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 Wauwatosa need?
A normal year in Wauwatosa brings 6,792 heating degree days, 26% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 728 cooling degree days, 20% 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 2,804 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,336 | 0 |
| February | 1,116 | 0 |
| March | 928 | 1 |
| April | 568 | 3 |
| May | 269 | 36 |
| June | 57 | 144 |
| July | 7 | 256 |
| August | 12 | 204 |
| September | 120 | 76 |
| October | 434 | 8 |
| November | 796 | 0 |
| December | 1,150 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,792 | 728 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00475474. 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 Wauwatosa been warmer than normal lately?
Over 98 complete years from 1895 to 2015, 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: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wauwatosa's climate compare?
Wauwatosa is warmer than 156 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wauwatosa is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Wauwatosa share this climate record?
8 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.
- Whitefish Bay, WI14,532 people · 7 mi NE
- Glendale, WI14,381 people · 6 mi NE
- Shorewood, WI13,521 people · 7 mi E
- Brown Deer, WI12,527 people · 8 mi N
- Fox Point, WI6,591 people · 9 mi NE
- Elm Grove, WI6,416 people · 3 mi SW
- Butler, WI1,769 people · 3 mi NW
- River Hills, WI1,541 people · 9 mi NE
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 Wauwatosa's climate
What is the coldest month in Wauwatosa?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Wauwatosa?
Yes: 40 inches in a normal year, falling on 25 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wauwatosa?
June, with 4.84 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.48 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wauwatosa in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wauwatosa in zone 5b across its 4 ZIP code areas (5b in 53226, the largest). By the same method at Wauwatosa's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Wauwatosa?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- West Allis, WI4 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Brookfield, WI7 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Hales Corners, WI9 miles from this station, 47.3°F a year
- Milwaukee, WI11 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made