Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wisconsin Dells's normal year runs from 8°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 37.5 inches of precipitation and 41 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.6°C, January lows of −13°C, July highs of 28°C, 952 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWisconsin Dells
- Station IDUSC00479319
- Location43.61°N 89.77°W
- Elevation835 ft (255 m)
- Population3,157
On October 23, the normal high in Wisconsin Dells is 56°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wisconsin Dells.
- Jan 26° 8°
- Feb 31° 11°
- Mar 43° 22°
- Apr 57° 33°
- May 69° 45°
- Jun 79° 56°
- Jul 83° 60°
- Aug 81° 57°
- Sep 73° 49°
- Oct 60° 37°
- Nov 44° 26°
- Dec 32° 15°
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 Wisconsin Dells each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 8°F. The most precipitation falls in June (5.11 in), the least in January (1.32 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 8°F | 17.2°F | 1.32 | 11.5 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 31°F | 11°F | 21.2°F | 1.38 | 10.2 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 43°F | 22°F | 32.5°F | 2.28 | 5.9 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 33°F | 45.0°F | 4.08 | 2.0 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 45°F | 57.3°F | 4.38 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 79°F | 56°F | 67.2°F | 5.11 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 60°F | 71.0°F | 4.04 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 81°F | 57°F | 68.9°F | 4.22 | 0.0 | 10 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 73°F | 49°F | 60.9°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 60°F | 37°F | 48.2°F | 2.82 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 26°F | 35.1°F | 2.23 | 2.0 | 8 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 32°F | 15°F | 23.5°F | 1.77 | 8.7 | 9 | <1 | 29 | 9 h |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 35°F | 45.7°F | 37.47 | 40.7 | 111 | 10 | 168 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3°C | −13°C | −8.2°C | 34 mm | 29 cm |
| February | 0°C | −12°C | −6.0°C | 35 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 6°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 58 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 14°C | 1°C | 7.2°C | 104 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 14.1°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.7°C | 103 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 3°C | 9.0°C | 72 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −3°C | 1.7°C | 57 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 0°C | −9°C | −4.7°C | 45 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00479319; 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 Wisconsin Dells?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00479319.
When is the last frost in Wisconsin Dells?
In Wisconsin Dells, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 21 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 22; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 146 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 168 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wisconsin Dells in zone 5a in ZIP code 53965, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wisconsin Dells's NOAA station is in zone 4b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (29 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 USC00479319; 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 Wisconsin Dells?
In a normal year in Wisconsin Dells, 10 days a year reach 90°F, 168 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 10a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 168a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 63high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 15a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1922) is 114°F, on July 13, 1936; the lowest is −43°F, on January 30, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 56.47 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 97.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00479319; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00479319. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wisconsin Dells?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wisconsin Dells, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 66% | 1.7 |
| February | 73% | 2.8 |
| March | 72% | 3.8 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 78% | 5.3 |
| September | 77% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.8 |
| November | 66% | 1.8 |
| December | 60% | 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 Wisconsin Dells need?
A normal year in Wisconsin Dells brings 7,570 heating degree days, 41% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 563 cooling degree days, 38% 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 2,517 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,482 | 0 |
| February | 1,228 | 0 |
| March | 1,006 | 0 |
| April | 603 | 3 |
| May | 271 | 32 |
| June | 57 | 124 |
| July | 14 | 202 |
| August | 29 | 148 |
| September | 175 | 50 |
| October | 526 | 5 |
| November | 897 | 0 |
| December | 1,285 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,570 | 563 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00479319. 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 Wisconsin Dells been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 45.5°F, 0.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 45.7°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47.0°F | +1.3°F | 28.90 | 29.4 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | −1.3°F | 35.56 | 34.8 |
| 2024 | 48.2°F | +2.5°F | 44.62 | 34.2 |
| 2025 | 45.5°F | −0.2°F | 33.57 | 27.6 |
Over 74 complete years from 1923 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00479319; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wisconsin Dells's climate compare?
Wisconsin Dells is warmer than 94 of the other 164 places with their own NOAA record in Wisconsin, and wetter than 133. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 45.7°F is warmer than 22%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wisconsin Dells 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 Wisconsin Dells 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.
- Lake Delton, WI3,466 people · 1 mi SW
- Lyndon Station, WI477 people · 9 mi NW
- Briggsville, WI303 people · 9 mi E
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 Wisconsin Dells's climate
What is the coldest month in Wisconsin Dells?
January, with a normal high of 26°F and a normal low of 8°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Wisconsin Dells?
Yes: 41 inches in a normal year, falling on 24 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wisconsin Dells?
June, with 5.11 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 1.32 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wisconsin Dells in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wisconsin Dells in zone 5a in ZIP code 53965, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wisconsin Dells's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −21°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 4b.
How late can frost come in Wisconsin Dells?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; in one year in ten it comes after May 22. Waiting until May 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Wisconsin Dells in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Wisconsin climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Baraboo, WI11 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Reedsburg, WI13 miles from this station, 46.3°F a year
- Rock Springs, WI15 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Portage, WI17 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made