Milwaukee Climate Records and Averages

Milwaukee possesses a continental climate characterized by a wide range of temperatures between summer and winter. Precipitation is moderate and occurs mostly in the spring, less in the autumn and very little in the wintertime.

Milwaukee is in a region of frequently changeable weather and its climate is influenced by general easterly–moving storms which traverse the nations midsection. The most severe winter storms, which produce in excess of 10 inches of snow, develop in the southern Great Plains and move northeast across Illinois and Indiana.

Occasionally during the cold season, frigid air masses from Canada push southeast across the Great Lakes region. These arctic air masses account for the coldest winter temperatures. Very low temperatures of zero degrees or lower most often occur in air that flows southward to the west of Lake Superior before reaching the Milwaukee area. If northwesterly wind circulation persists, repeated incursions of arctic air will result in a period of bitterly cold weather lasting several days.

Summer temperatures, which reach into the 90s but rarely exceed 100 degrees, occur with brisk southwest winds that carry hot air from the Plains and lower Mississippi River Valley across the city. A combination of high temperatures and humidity occasionally develops, usually building up over a period of several days when persistent southerly winds transport moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the area.

The Gulf of Mexico is a major source of moisture for Milwaukee in all seasons, but the type of precipitation which results is dependent upon the time of year. Cold–season precipitation (rain, snow, or a mixture) is usually of relatively long duration and low intensity, and occasionally persists for two days or more, whereas in the warm season, relatively short–duration and high–intensity showery rainfall, usually lasting a few hours or less, predominates.

The influence of Lake Michigan is variable and occasionally dramatic, especially when the temperature of the lake water differs strongly from the air temperature. During the spring and early summer, a wind shift from a westerly to an easterly direction frequently causes a sudden 10 to 20 degree temperature drop. When the breeze off the lake is light, this effect reaches inland only a mile or two. With stronger on–shore winds, the entire city is cooled. In the winter the relatively warm water of the lake moderates the temperature during easterly wind situations. Lake–induced snows usually occur a few times each winter, but snow accumulation is rarely heavy.

	Monthly Averages			Daily Extremes				Monthly Extremes				Max. Temp.		Min. Temp.
Temperatures in F	Max.	Min.	Avg	High	Date of daily extreme high	Low	Date of daily extreme low	Highest Avg	Year	Lowest Avg	Year	# Days >= 90 F	# Days <= 32 F	# Days <= 32 F	# Days<= 0 F
January	28.0	13.7	20.9	63	07/2008	-26	17/1982	34.0	2006	8.3	1977	0.0	19.1	29.3	5.7
February	31.7	17.6	24.6	65	27/1976	-26	03/1996	34.5	1998	15.1	1979	0.0	14.2	26.1	2.6
March	41.1	26.3	33.7	82	29/1986	-10	01/1962	41.9	2000	21.5	1960	0.0	6.2	23.3	0.3
April	53.8	36.5	45.2	91	22/1980	12	07/1982	51.0	2010	37.7	1975	0.0	0.4	8.6	0.0
May	65.1	45.7	55.4	93	28/1991	21	10/1966	63.2	1991	49.5	1966	0.2	0.0	0.7	0.0
June	75.6	56.1	65.8	101	14/1987	36	01/1966	72.2	1987	58.9	1969	2.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
July	80.4	62.4	71.4	103	13/1995	40	01/1965	76.7	1955	66.6	1962	3.6	0.0	0.0	0.0
August	78.8	61.8	70.3	103	01/1988	44	20/1950	76.3	1955	65.6	1950	2.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
September	71.5	53.7	62.6	98	01/1953	28	23/1974	68.6	2005	58.0	1962	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.0
October	59.9	42.7	51.3	89	06/1963	18	24/1981	58.6	1963	45.6	1980	0.0	0.0	3.4	0.0
November	45.5	31.0	38.2	77	01/1950	-5	24/1950	47.4	2001	29.4	1959	0.0	2.9	17.0	0.1
December	32.8	19.3	26.0	64	03/1998	-20	24/1983	34.5	1994	13.2	1963	0.0	13.9	27.4	2.3

Annual	55.3	38.9	47.1	103	1988/08/01	-26	1982/01/17	50.8	1998	43.6	1972	9.4	56.5	136.0	11.0

Winter	30.8	16.9	23.8	65	1976/02/27	-26	1982/01/17	31.5	2002	15.3	1963	0.0	47.1	82.8	10.7
Spring	53.3	36.2	44.8	93	1991/05/28	-10	1962/03/01	50.3	1991	40.2	1971	0.2	6.5	32.6	0.3
Summer	78.2	60.1	69.2	103	1988/08/01	36	1966/06/01	73.8	1995	65.4	1960	8.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fall	59.0	42.4	50.7	98	1953/09/01	-5	1950/11/24	55.7	1994	46.0	1976	0.8	2.9	20.6	0.1

												Total Snowfall
	Avg.	High	Year	Low	Year	1 Day Max.		>= 0.01 in.	>= 0.10 in.	>= 0.50 in.	>= 1.00 in.	Mean	High	Year
	in.	in.	-	in.	-	in.	dd/yyyy or yyyymmdd	# Days	# Days	# Days	# Days	in.	in.	-
January	1.72	4.38	1999	0.31	1961	1.54	19/1988	11	5	1	0	13.2	33.6	1979
February	1.49	3.94	1986	0.05	1969	1.67	10/1960	10	4	1	0	10.5	42.0	1974
March	2.43	6.93	1976	0.31	1968	2.31	04/1976	12	6	2	0	8.3	30.3	1965
April	3.42	7.31	1973	1.31	1971	3.01	24/1976	12	7	2	1	1.9	15.8	1973
May	3.00	8.42	2000	0.50	1988	2.15	22/1991	11	7	2	1	0.1	3.2	1990
June	3.76	12.27	2008	0.70	1988	4.93	07/2008	11	6	3	1	0.0	0.4	2005
July	3.62	10.93	2010	0.71	2009	5.61	22/2010	10	6	2	1	-	-	-
August	3.44	9.05	1987	0.46	1948	6.81	06/1986	9	6	2	1	-	-	-
September	2.96	9.41	1961	0.02	1979	2.96	11/2000	9	5	2	1	-	-	-
October	2.38	7.03	1991	0.15	1956	2.33	24/1991	9	5	2	0	-	-	-
November	2.32	7.11	1985	0.36	2007	2.22	10/1998	10	5	1	0	2.8	16.1	1977
December	2.06	5.42	1987	0.29	1976	2.24	02/1982	11	5	1	0	10.7	35.3	2008

Annual	32.59	44.44	2008	19.10	1963	6.81	1986/08/06	126	67	20	6	47.8	106.6	2008

Winter	5.27	10.51	1974	1.53	2003	2.24	1982/12/02	33	14	3	1	34.5	78.9	2008
Spring	8.84	15.71	1976	4.23	1994	3.01	1976/04/24	35	19	6	2	10.3	34.4	1965
Summer	10.82	19.48	1986	4.44	1958	6.81	1986/08/06	30	19	7	3	0.0	0.4	2005
Fall	7.66	15.94	1985	2.07	1956	2.96	2000/09/11	29	16	5	2	3.0	17.9	1989

Winter = Dec, Jan, and Feb		Spring = Mar, Apr, and May
Summer = Jun, Jul, and Aug.		Fall = Sep, Oct, and Nov