Climate and average weather in Manitowoc

In Manitowoc, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Manitowoc typically varies from 15°F to 78°F, and is rarely below -4°F or above 85°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Manitowoc for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
78°
Coldest
Jan
15°
Wettest
Aug
3.5 in
Driest
Feb
1.4 in
Rain / yr
32.0 in
112 wet days
Daylight
8.7–15.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
604 ft
44.1°N
Clearest
Jul
53% cloud

Manitowoc is city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States.

Density
701/km²
people per km²

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Manitowoc weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Manitowoc, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.9 months, from May 29 to September 25, with daily high temperatures above 65°F. The hottest month of the year in Manitowoc is July, with an average high of 78°F and low of 65°F.

The cool season lasts 3.2 months, from December 5 to March 11, with daily high temperatures below 36°F. The coldest month of the year in Manitowoc is January, with an average low of 15°F and high of 27°F.

Days typically run about 12°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan2715
Feb2916
Mar3825
Apr4936
May6047
Jun7259
Jul7865
Aug7664
Sep6956
Oct5645
Nov4434
Dec3323

How hot and cold Manitowoc really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 1°F (around January 19), with roughly 171 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 93 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan2727315
Feb2929416
Mar38381525
Apr49492936
May60604347
Jun72725959
Jul78786565
Aug76766464
Sep69695656
Oct56564045
Nov44442634
Dec33331223

Average hourly temperature in Manitowoc

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 78°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 15°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Manitowoc weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan27° / 15°1.67.96.79.10.0
Feb29° / 16°1.46.65.610.20.0
Mar38° / 25°2.294.811.60.1
Apr49° / 36°3.411.22.713.21.9
May60° / 47°3.310.4014.54.7
Jun72° / 59°3.410.6015.26.5
Jul78° / 65°3.510.70156.8
Aug76° / 64°3.510.3013.86.9
Sep69° / 56°2.89.4012.36.5
Oct56° / 45°2.99.70.210.83.9
Nov44° / 34°2.18.529.40.8
Dec33° / 23°1.87.35.28.80.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Manitowoc gets about 32.0 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.1 months, from around Mar 27 to Aug 28, peaking in April at about 38% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 9.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 3.5 in over about 10 wet days; February is the driest, with 1.4 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetApr 10 · 38%Feb 9 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan258
Feb247
Mar299
Apr3711
May3410
Jun3511
Jul3511
Aug3310
Sep319
Oct3110
Nov289
Dec247

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Manitowoc collects about 32.0 in of rain across 112 wet days — roughly 2.7 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 3.5 in, while February is the driest at just 1.4 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.544.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.61.42.23.43.33.43.53.52.82.92.11.8
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1.687
Feb1.476
Mar2.295
Apr3.4113
May3.3100
Jun3.4110
Jul3.5110
Aug3.5100
Sep2.890
Oct2.9100
Nov2.192
Dec1.875

Snow in Manitowoc

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Manitowoc averages about 27 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 28 to May 1 — about 6.1 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 13 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 52 in of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 16
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan713
Feb612
Mar58
Apr36
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov22
Dec511

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Manitowoc, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 17 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around October 15. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 56% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 16 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around May 16. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 68% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 25 · 57%Nov 27 · 31%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3367
Feb3763
Mar3961
Apr3664
May4357
Jun4852
Jul5644
Aug5446
Sep5347
Oct4258
Nov3466
Dec3268

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 13, brings about 15 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.17:294:31
Feb10.27:005:11
Mar11.66:125:49
Apr13.25:146:27
May14.54:307:04
Jun15.24:127:29
Jul15.04:267:26
Aug13.84:596:50
Sep12.35:365:54
Oct10.86:134:58
Nov9.46:544:18
Dec8.87:254:08

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Manitowoc averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 12 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.8 months, from around May 22 to Oct 14. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 7 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the September peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedSep 312 daysNov 276 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul11Mixed
Aug11Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct8Mixed
Nov6Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Manitowoc, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.6 months, from around June 6 to September 24. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 65% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 25 to June 5, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 24 · 100%Jul 22 · 31%oppressivemuggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr1000000
May888300
Jun422520111
Jul122330269
Aug132530266
Sep492117121
Oct916210
Nov1000000
Dec1000000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Manitowoc is typically light breeze, near 9 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Sep 21 to Mar 12. The windiest month is November, averaging about 11 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 29 to Sep 20, with August the calmest month at about 8 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyNov 18 · 11 mphAug 6 · 7 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan10light breeze
Feb10light breeze
Mar9light breeze
Apr9light breeze
May9light breeze
Jun8light breeze
Jul8light breeze
Aug8light breeze
Sep9light breeze
Oct10light breeze
Nov11light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Best time to visit Manitowoc

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Manitowoc throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early June, Manitowoc is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Manitowoc for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 7.1

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.1poor
Apr1.9poor
May4.7fair
Jun6.5good
Jul6.8good
Aug6.9good
Sep6.5good
Oct3.9fair
Nov0.9poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Manitowoc for hot-weather activities is from late June to early September, with a peak score in the second week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 11 · 6.3

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Manitowoc, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 78°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 27°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Manitowoc sees daytime highs around 78°F and nights near 65°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Manitowoc

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 69°F and coldest in March near 36°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Aug 10 to Aug 23 — about 0.5 months when the water holds above 68°F.

30°40°50°60°70°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarm
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan38Bracing
Feb36Bracing
Mar36Bracing
Apr38Bracing
May41Bracing
Jun52Bracing
Jul65Cool
Aug69Refreshing
Sep65Cool
Oct55Bracing
Nov46Bracing
Dec40Bracing

UV index (midday) in Manitowoc by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Manitowoc peaks around June 18 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJun 18UV 9Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr5High
May8Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug7High
Sep5High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Manitowoc

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar3.50
Apr60
May84
Jun8.55
Jul84.5
Aug73
Sep5.50
Oct10
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Manitowoc typically lasts about 231 days, from around April 5 to November 21 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 29.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2010%Apr 550%Apr 2390%Oct 2990%Nov 2150%Jan 1110%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1031
Feb1028
Mar2431
Apr7421
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct961
Nov6130
Dec2231

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Manitowoc banks about 2,267 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,0002,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May111
Jun453
Jul656
Aug615
Sep375
Oct57
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Manitowoc receives about 4.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.4 and 6.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 14 to Sep 19. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.4 kWh/m² — roughly 78% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 306.7 kWhDec 161.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.8Dim
Feb2.9Moderate
Mar4.2Bright
Apr5.1Bright
May6.0Bright
Jun6.5Intense
Jul6.5Intense
Aug5.5Bright
Sep4.3Bright
Oct2.8Moderate
Nov1.8Dim
Dec1.4Dim

Where is Manitowoc?

Manitowoc sits at 44.1°N, 87.7°W, 604 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Sheboygan, 24 mi away.

Topography around Manitowoc

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Manitowoc.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Manitowoc has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 125 ft around an average of 607 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 394 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 774 ft.

The land around Manitowoc is covered by water (40%) and artificial surfaces (33%) within 2 miles, water (41%) and cropland (25%) within 10 miles, and water (53%) and cropland (24%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
125 ft
10 miles
394 ft
50 miles
774 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Sheboygan 24 mi · Bellevue 28 mi · De Pere 32 mi · Kaukauna 33 mi · Ashwaubenon 34 mi · Green Bay 35 mi · Howard 38 mi · Appleton 39 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Manitowoc (44.0886°, -87.6576°, elevation 604 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).