Wisconsin Climate
Top 5 Cities: Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine
This month in numbers
March 2026 saw Wisconsin's average temperature reach 1.5°C, an anomaly of +3.2°C above the 1961–1990 baseline, ranking as the 12th warmest March in 77 years of records. Maximum temperatures for the month were also notably high at 7.5°C, an anomaly of +3.7°C, making it the 10th warmest March for maximum temperatures on record. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April for land temperatures on record, with an anomaly of +1.1°C, just shy of the all-time record set in April 2025.
What changed
The January–March 2026 period in Wisconsin recorded an average temperature of -4.65°C, an anomaly of +2.5°C, ranking as the 17th warmest such period in 77 years. This continues a trend of warmer-than-average conditions, with February 2026 also experiencing a significant anomaly of +4.3°C. Precipitation for March was 64.26 mm, an increase of +14.2 mm above average, ranking as the 18th wettest March on record. This contributed to a series of heavy precipitation events that led to record-setting and historic flooding on several rivers across northeast Wisconsin from mid to late April 2026. Wisconsin and Michigan both recorded their wettest April on record, with the Upper Midwest climate region observing approximately twice its average precipitation for the month. This region also saw its second-highest January–April precipitation total on record.
What’s driving change?
The current climate is influenced by a Neutral ENSO state, with a weekly Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature anomaly of +0.9°C as of April 29, 2026. While the current state is neutral, there is a strong forecast for an evolving El Niño phase in the coming months, with a 61% probability for May-Jul and 79% for Jun-Aug. El Niño phases typically lead to milder winter seasons in Wisconsin, with no strong correlation to changes in precipitation. However, Wisconsin experienced a historic blizzard from March 14-16, 2026, which brought over two feet of snow to parts of the state, followed by severe storms and flooding in April. This included record flooding on rivers in northeast Wisconsin, with some areas experiencing flash floods and dam overtopping. The state also saw a tornado touch down near Gilman in April. There have been two drought events and one flood event logged for Wisconsin over the past 12 months, with the recent occurrences representing 100% of that annual total, indicating an unusual concentration of these events. More information on active extreme weather events can be found at Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
The NOAA CPC probability forecast indicates a strong likelihood of an El Niño phase developing in the coming months, with an 87% chance for July-September. This evolving El Niño could bring warmer and slightly drier conditions to the Midwest during the winter months.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Loading climate data...
Data Sources
Data Sources for Wisconsin
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Wisconsin changing?
Wisconsin is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Wisconsin come from?
Climate data for Wisconsin comes from NOAA Climate at a Glance (temperature and precipitation), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Wisconsin climate data cover?
The Wisconsin climate profile covers Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and surrounding areas. Wisconsin climate data from NOAA Climate at a Glance
How often is the Wisconsin climate update refreshed?
The Wisconsin climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.