Historical Madison Precipitation Data

View long-term precipitation data for Madison, Wisconsin. Precipitation is any type of liquid or frozen water that falls to the Earth and can include rain, hail, sleet, or snow. Madison averages 37.13 inches of precipitation per year, based on the 1991-2020 climate normals. June is typically the wettest month (5.28 inches) and January is typically the driest month (1.47 inches). Notable records for Madison include:

  • Record one-day precipitation (rainfall): 4.96 inches (August 8, 1906)
  • Wettest month: 15.18 inches (August 2007)
  • Wettest year: 52.91 inches (1881)
  • Driest year: 13.69 inches (1895)

Note: The record calendar-day precipitation total doesn’t necessarily equal the record 24-hour total.

Daily and Annual Precipitation

View daily precipitation for Madison, Wisconsin, from 1869 to the present day, using combined data from the stations at the Madison city weather bureau office (January 1869–December 1946) and Dane County Regional Airport (January 1947–present). This chart shows the daily and total precipitation compared with the normal total precipitation. The vertical lines and left axis represent the daily precipitation; the horizontal lines and right axis represent the yearly total and normal precipitation.


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Download the complete record of precipitation data (CSV)

Seven-Day Summary

Date Precipitation (in.) Total Year to Date Normal Year to Date

T = trace (less than 0.005 inches of rain or less than 0.05 inches of snow)
M = missing data

Single-Day, Monthly, and Yearly Record Precipitation

Top 10 Wettest Days

Precipitation (in.) Date

Note: The record calendar-day precipitation total doesn’t necessarily equal the record 24-hour total.

Top 10 Wettest Months

Precipitation (in.) Date

Top 10 Wettest Years

Precipitation (in.) Date

Top 10 Driest Years

Precipitation (in.) Date

Days of Measurable Precipitation

This chart shows the annual number of days per year where there was at least 0.01 inch of precipitation.

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Days of at Least 1 Inch of Precipitation

This chart shows the annual number of days per year where there was at least 1 inch of precipitation.

Click and drag or pinch anywhere on the chart to zoom in on specific data points.