Madison climate
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 | 15thof 50 | -2.4 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in December | 16thof 50 | 0.3 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in November | 17thof 50 | 7.1 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in February | 23rdof 50 | -0.01 °C |
| Places with the best weather in North America in September | 30thof 50 | 90/100 |
| The coolest places in North America year-round | 30thof 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
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
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.