Winter, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Winter's normal year runs from 2°F January nights to 78°F July afternoons, with 35.2 inches of precipitation and 57 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.9°C, January lows of −17°C, July highs of 25°C, 893 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWinter
- Station IDUSC00479304
- Location45.80°N 90.99°W
- Elevation1,355 ft (413 m)
- Population335
On October 22, the normal high in Winter is 51°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 35%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Winter.
- Jan 20° 2°
- Feb 26° 5°
- Mar 38° 18°
- Apr 51° 30°
- May 65° 42°
- Jun 74° 51°
- Jul 78° 55°
- Aug 76° 54°
- Sep 68° 46°
- Oct 54° 35°
- Nov 38° 23°
- Dec 25° 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 Winter each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 78°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 2°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.00 in), the least in January (1.02 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°F | 2°F | 10.9°F | 1.02 | 10.7 | 9 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 26°F | 5°F | 15.5°F | 1.10 | 10.2 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 38°F | 18°F | 27.7°F | 1.71 | 9.3 | 8 | <1 | 28 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 30°F | 40.6°F | 3.04 | 4.2 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 65°F | 42°F | 53.5°F | 3.78 | 0.1 | 12 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 74°F | 51°F | 62.5°F | 5.00 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 78°F | 55°F | 66.6°F | 4.30 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 76°F | 54°F | 64.7°F | 3.99 | 0.0 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 68°F | 46°F | 57.2°F | 4.46 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 54°F | 35°F | 44.3°F | 3.67 | 0.9 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| November | 38°F | 23°F | 30.4°F | 1.78 | 7.9 | 9 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 25°F | 10°F | 17.3°F | 1.32 | 14.0 | 10 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 51°F | 31°F | 40.9°F | 35.17 | 57.3 | 121 | 2 | 187 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −7°C | −17°C | −11.7°C | 26 mm | 27 cm |
| February | −4°C | −15°C | −9.2°C | 28 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 3°C | −8°C | −2.4°C | 43 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 11°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 77 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 18°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 127 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 101 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20°C | 8°C | 14.0°C | 113 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12°C | 2°C | 6.8°C | 93 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 3°C | −5°C | −0.9°C | 45 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −4°C | −12°C | −8.2°C | 34 mm | 36 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00479304; 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 Winter?
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 (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 USC00479304.
When is the last frost in Winter?
In Winter, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 19 in half of years and after June 3 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 27 in half of years and before September 8 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 191 year in 10 after June 3; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 271 year in 10 before September 8; 9 in 10 before October 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 129 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 152 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 6 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Winter in zone 4a in ZIP code 54862, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Winter's NOAA station is in zone 4a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (26 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 USC00479304; 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 Winter?
In a normal year in Winter, 2 days a year reach 90°F, 187 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 121 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
- 187a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 91high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 121a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1915) is 107°F, on July 13, 1936; the lowest is −52°F, on January 28, 1915.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 50.05 in; the snowiest season is 1970–71, with 97.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00479304; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00479304. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Winter?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Winter, 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 Winter need?
A normal year in Winter brings 8,997 heating degree days, 67% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 263 cooling degree days, 71% 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 1,864 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,678 | 0 |
| February | 1,386 | 0 |
| March | 1,157 | 0 |
| April | 732 | 0 |
| May | 371 | 13 |
| June | 124 | 50 |
| July | 53 | 101 |
| August | 79 | 71 |
| September | 260 | 26 |
| October | 642 | 2 |
| November | 1,038 | 0 |
| December | 1,477 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,997 | 263 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00479304. 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 Winter been warmer than normal lately?
Over 53 complete years from 1949 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.1°F per century (+0.17°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 Winter's climate compare?
Winter is warmer than 12 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 88. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 40.9°F is warmer than 7%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Winter 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 Winter share this climate record?
2 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.
- New Post, WI322 people · 12 mi NW
- Radisson, WI273 people · 11 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 Winter's climate
What is the coldest month in Winter?
January, with a normal high of 20°F and a normal low of 2°F. The warmest is July (78°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Winter?
Yes: 57 inches in a normal year, falling on 37 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (14.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Winter?
June, with 5.00 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Winter in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Winter in zone 4a in ZIP code 54862, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Winter's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −27°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 4a.
How late can frost come in Winter?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 19; in one year in ten it comes after June 3. Waiting until June 3 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Big Falls Hydro, WI17 miles from this station, 42.3°F a year
- Couderay, WI22 miles from this station, 41.4°F a year
- Ladysmith, WI24 miles from this station, 41.5°F a year
- Butternut, WI25 miles from this station, 39.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made