Wisconsin Climate History

The State Climatology Office has a collection of climate data for the state of Wisconsin that extends back into the 19th century. Weather observations have been made in Wisconsin for approximately 180 years, starting with those made by the U.S. Army post surgeons at Fort Howard (Green Bay), Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien) and Fort Winnebago (Portage) in the 1820s. Beginning in 1870, the U.S. Army Signal Service operated a network of stations, which was the forerunner to the National Weather Service. The network stations in Wisconsin included Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay. These stations evolved into the first order stations of the US Weather Bureau at the turn of the 20th century. Originally they were city offices, but moved to the airports following World War II. With modernization of the National Weather Service in the 1990s, automatic weather stations are found at these metropolitan airports along with other smaller airports. These stations typically provide hourly weather data oriented toward aviation interests, to include temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed/direction and air pressure. A more extensive network of stations maintained by cooperative observers became established by 1891 when the US Weather Bureau continues across the state. This network is primarily responsible for collecting daily weather data for agricultural and climatological purposes. Currently, nearly 200 stations provide maximum and minimum temperature readings along with precipitation data on a daily basis.

List of Wisconsin Weather Stations by County