Madison climate

Name: Madison
Address: US

Madison is warmest in July, with average highs of 28 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -11 °C. June is the wettest month (111 mm) and January the driest (40 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Madison averages 888 mm of rain, 79 days above 25 °C and 129 days below freezing.

United States · 267 m elevation · population 280,305 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month July 28 °C
Coldest month January -11 °C
Driest month January 40 mm
Wettest month June 111 mm
Least cloud September 48 % cloud
Hottest on record July 38 °C
Coldest on record February -37 °C

What to expectMadison through the year

Madison has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -2.4 °C in January to 28 °C in July, a swing of 30 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 79 days a year reach 25 °C, 16 of them reach 30 °C, 129 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. June averages 111 mm against 40 mm in January — 2.8 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	-2.4 °C	40 mm	68 %
February	-0.0 °C	41 mm	65 %
March	6.8 °C	61 mm	63 %
April	13.9 °C	100 mm	64 %
May	20.4 °C	101 mm	61 %
June	25.5 °C	111 mm	57 %
July	27.5 °C	85 mm	50 %
August	26.4 °C	90 mm	51 %
September	22.5 °C	84 mm	48 %
October	15.2 °C	72 mm	57 %
November	7.1 °C	55 mm	64 %
December	0.3 °C	48 mm	68 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	-2.4 °C	-10.9 °C	-7.1 °C	12.7 °C	-36.7 °C	0	0	29
February	-0.0 °C	-9.1 °C	-5.1 °C	19.8 °C	-37.1 °C	0	0	26
March	6.8 °C	-3.1 °C	1.2 °C	25.6 °C	-27.4 °C	0	0	22
April	13.9 °C	3.2 °C	7.9 °C	28.1 °C	-12.6 °C	1	0	7
May	20.4 °C	9.9 °C	14.7 °C	32.7 °C	-1.2 °C	6	0	0
June	25.5 °C	15.6 °C	20.3 °C	34.9 °C	3.9 °C	17	3	0
July	27.5 °C	18.2 °C	22.7 °C	38.2 °C	9.9 °C	24	7	0
August	26.4 °C	17.4 °C	21.6 °C	34.2 °C	8.7 °C	21	4	0
September	22.5 °C	13.5 °C	17.6 °C	32.9 °C	0.4 °C	10	1	0
October	15.2 °C	7.0 °C	10.6 °C	28.8 °C	-4.4 °C	1	0	2
November	7.1 °C	-0.0 °C	3.1 °C	21.7 °C	-19.8 °C	0	0	16
December	0.3 °C	-6.8 °C	-3.6 °C	17.7 °C	-27.9 °C	0	0	27

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	40 mm	8	9.4 h/day	68 %	76 %	19 km/h
February	41 mm	6	11 h/day	65 %	74 %	19 km/h
March	61 mm	9	12 h/day	63 %	69 %	19 km/h
April	100 mm	12	13 h/day	64 %	67 %	21 km/h
May	101 mm	13	15 h/day	61 %	69 %	19 km/h
June	111 mm	12	15 h/day	57 %	70 %	17 km/h
July	85 mm	10	15 h/day	50 %	71 %	16 km/h
August	90 mm	10	14 h/day	51 %	73 %	15 km/h
September	84 mm	9	13 h/day	48 %	72 %	17 km/h
October	72 mm	8	11 h/day	57 %	71 %	19 km/h
November	55 mm	8	9.7 h/day	64 %	72 %	19 km/h
December	48 mm	8	9.0 h/day	68 %	76 %	18 km/h

Where Madison ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in North America in January	15th of 50	-2.4 °C
The coolest places in North America in December	16th of 50	0.3 °C
The coolest places in North America in November	17th of 50	7.1 °C
The coolest places in North America in February	23rd of 50	-0.01 °C
Places with the best weather in North America in September	30th of 50	90/100
The coolest places in North America year-round	30th of 50	14 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Madison.

QuestionsCommon questions about Madison’s climate

When is the best time to visit Madison?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and January the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Madison get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 28 °C. About 16 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 38 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -11 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 129 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Madison?

June, averaging 111 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is January with 40 mm. The year as a whole averages 888 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Madison rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 43.073°, -89.401° , 267 m above sea level (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.