Summer 2016 Summary for Milwaukee and Madison

Summer 2016 is behind us as we head forward into Meteorological Autumn, which encompass the months of September, October, and November. For both Milwaukee and Madison, it was a summer for the record books, with both climate sites breaking into the Top 10 for temperatures and precipitation. Milwaukee experienced the fifth warmest June-July-August (JJA) period on record, while Madison experienced the eighth wettest JJA period on record.

Below are tables showing where Milwaukee and Madison ended up in terms of average temperatures and precipitation.

Milwaukee

Madison

Dewpoint

It was also a very humid, muggy summer which we can analyze by looking at dew point temperature. This summer had the 3rd highest average dewpoint at Madison. It came out at 63.1 while the average is 60.6. The two more humid summers were 1995 (64.6) and 2010 (64.6). This summer ranked 7th for highest average dewpoint at Milwaukee. It came out at 62.2 while the average is 60.3. 1995 (64.7), 2010 (63.3), and 1987 (62.9) were the top three most humid summers in Milwaukee.

Right off the bat, notice the huge difference in rainfall amounts between Milwaukee and Madison. Madison received 9.61" of rainfall more than Milwaukee - even with Milwaukee receiving 2.09 inches of rain on August 30th! Also, Milwaukee's average summer temperatures were 1.5º warmer than that of Madison's. Below are statewide maps showing both the average temperatures and precipitation across the state, along with the departures from normal.

Temperatures

Click the below images to enlarge.

In general, most of the state saw average temperatures for the summer between 65 and 75 degrees, which was between 1 and 2 degrees above average for a large portion of Wisconsin. A small sliver of southeast Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha areas, saw average temperatures 2 to 3 degrees above average.

Precipitation

Click the below images to enlarge.

The precipitation maps show quite a large difference in the rainfall amounts, as you can see in the accumulated precipitation map to the left - ranging from 22-24 inches in Crawford county to 10-12 inches in Milwaukee county! Northern Wisconsin saw mainly between 12-14 inches to 18-20 inches, not quite as large of a discrepancy. The departure from mean is just as telling, with departures ranging from 0-2 inches above average in southeast Wisconsin to 8-10 inches above average in Crawford and Vernon counties. So, in summary, Milwaukee dealt with the warm temperatures, while Madison contended with heavy rainfall amounts.

Links to the full seasonal climate summaries can be seen below:

Milwaukee

Madison

Schultz/Marquardt

NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan