Milwaukee climate
Milwaukee is warmest in July, with average highs of 26 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -7.4 °C. April is the wettest month (102 mm) and February the driest (48 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Milwaukee averages 890 mm of rain, 51 days above 25 °C and 108 days below freezing.
United States · 188 m elevation · population 563,531 · 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 26 °C
- Coldest month January -7.4 °C
- Driest month February 48 mm
- Wettest month April 102 mm
- Least cloud September 49 % cloud
- Hottest on record August 35 °C
- Coldest on record January -31 °C
What to expectMilwaukee through the year
Milwaukee has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -1.4 °C in January to 26 °C in July, a swing of 28 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 51 days a year reach 25 °C, 6 of them reach 30 °C, 108 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C, in August.
Rain is strongly seasonal. April averages 102 mm against 48 mm in February — 2.1 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.
Month by month
| Month | Avg high | Rainfall | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | -1.4 °C | 50 mm | 70 % |
| February | -0.5 °C | 48 mm | 65 % |
| March | 3.5 °C | 60 mm | 63 % |
| April | 8.8 °C | 102 mm | 63 % |
| May | 15.6 °C | 93 mm | 61 % |
| June | 22.0 °C | 94 mm | 56 % |
| July | 25.9 °C | 82 mm | 50 % |
| August | 25.3 °C | 93 mm | 50 % |
| September | 21.6 °C | 74 mm | 49 % |
| October | 14.6 °C | 79 mm | 58 % |
| November | 7.3 °C | 60 mm | 64 % |
| December | 1.6 °C | 56 mm | 70 % |
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 | -1.4 °C | -7.4 °C | -4.9 °C | 12.6 °C | -30.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| February | -0.5 °C | -6.9 °C | -4.2 °C | 19.9 °C | -30.1 °C | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| March | 3.5 °C | -2.7 °C | -0.0 °C | 17.5 °C | -23.7 °C | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| April | 8.8 °C | 3.2 °C | 5.6 °C | 25.5 °C | -9.1 °C | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| May | 15.6 °C | 9.7 °C | 12.3 °C | 32.3 °C | -2.0 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 22.0 °C | 16.4 °C | 18.9 °C | 33.8 °C | 5.1 °C | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| July | 25.9 °C | 20.2 °C | 22.8 °C | 35.1 °C | 12.3 °C | 19 | 3 | 0 |
| August | 25.3 °C | 20.0 °C | 22.4 °C | 35.3 °C | 11.2 °C | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| September | 21.6 °C | 16.4 °C | 18.7 °C | 32.4 °C | 3.7 °C | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 14.6 °C | 9.6 °C | 11.8 °C | 27.7 °C | -2.6 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 7.3 °C | 2.7 °C | 4.7 °C | 23.5 °C | -15.6 °C | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| December | 1.6 °C | -3.3 °C | -1.1 °C | 16.1 °C | -20.5 °C | 0 | 0 | 21 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50 mm | 9 | 9.4 h/day | 70 % | 76 % | 24 km/h |
| February | 48 mm | 7 | 11 h/day | 65 % | 76 % | 23 km/h |
| March | 60 mm | 9 | 12 h/day | 63 % | 76 % | 22 km/h |
| April | 102 mm | 12 | 13 h/day | 63 % | 74 % | 24 km/h |
| May | 93 mm | 11 | 15 h/day | 61 % | 75 % | 22 km/h |
| June | 94 mm | 11 | 15 h/day | 56 % | 75 % | 20 km/h |
| July | 82 mm | 10 | 15 h/day | 50 % | 72 % | 19 km/h |
| August | 93 mm | 10 | 14 h/day | 50 % | 72 % | 18 km/h |
| September | 74 mm | 9 | 13 h/day | 49 % | 71 % | 21 km/h |
| October | 79 mm | 9 | 11 h/day | 58 % | 70 % | 23 km/h |
| November | 60 mm | 8 | 9.7 h/day | 64 % | 72 % | 24 km/h |
| December | 56 mm | 9 | 9.0 h/day | 70 % | 75 % | 24 km/h |
Where Milwaukee ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The coolest places in North America in May | 6thof 50 | 16 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in April | 7thof 50 | 8.8 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in March | 15thof 50 | 3.5 °C |
| The coolest places in North America year-round | 17thof 50 | 12 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in February | 18thof 50 | -0.5 °C |
| The coolest places in North America in December | 20thof 50 | 1.6 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Milwaukee.
QuestionsCommon questions about Milwaukee’s climate
When is the best time to visit Milwaukee?
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 February the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Milwaukee get?
In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 26 °C. About 6 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 35 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average -7.4 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 108 nights below freezing.
Which month is wettest in Milwaukee?
April, averaging 102 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is February with 48 mm. The year as a whole averages 890 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 Milwaukee 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.