climate
Milwaukee lies along the shores and bluffs of Lake Michigan at the confluence of
three rivers: the Menomonee, the Kinnickinnic and the Milwaukee. Smaller rivers,
such as the Root River and Lincoln Creek also run throughout the city. Because
Lake Michigan is too large to see across, Milwaukee's waterfront resembles an
ocean rather than an inland lake.
Milwaukee's terrain is relatively flat, except for steep bluffs along the
lakeshore that begin about one half mile north and four miles south of the
downtown.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 251.0
km² (96.9 square miles). 248.8 km² (96.1 square miles) of it is land and 2.2 km²
(0.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.88% water.
Climate
Milwaukee's location in the Great Lakes Region means that it often has rapidly
changing weather, and the city experiences the full range of the seasons
throughout the year. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average
high temperature is 82°F (28°C), with overnight low temperatures averaging 66°F
(19°C); January is the coldest month, with high temperatures averaging 27°F
(-3°C), with the overnight low temperatures around 13°F (-11°C). Of the 50
largest cities in the United States, Milwaukee has the second-coldest average
annual temperature, next to that of Minneapolis.
Milwaukee's proximity to Lake Michigan causes a convection current to form
mid-afternoon, resulting in the so-called lake effect, causing the temperatures
to be warmer in the winter than regions farther from the lake, and cooler in the
summer. "Cooler by the lake" is practically boilerplate language for local
meteorologists during the spring and summer. Also, more snow falls in Milwaukee
than surrounding areas, due to the lake effect. The lake causes the relative
humidity in the summer that is far higher than that of comparable cities at the
same latitude, meaning that it feels hotter than the actual temperature.
Milwaukee's all-time record high temperature is 105°F (41°C) set on July 17,
1995. The coldest temperature ever experienced by the city was -26°F (-32°C) on
both January 17, 1982 and February 4, 1996. The 1982 event, also known as Cold
Sunday, featured temperatures as low as -40°F (-40°C) in some of the suburbs as
little as 10 miles (16km) to the north of Milwaukee, although the city itself
did not approach such cold temperatures.
In Milwaukee, the wettest month is August, due to frequent thunderstorms. These
can at times be dangerous and damaging, bringing hail and high winds. In rare
instances, it can bring a tornado to the more inland parts of the city. However,
almost all summer rainfall in the city is brought by these storms. In spring and
fall, longer events of prolonged, lighter rain bring most of the precipitation.
Snow commonly falls in the city from early November until the middle of March,
although it has been recorded as early as September 23, and as late as May 31.
The city receives an average of 47.0 inches (1.19m) of snow in winter, but this
number is highly variable. In 2000, 49.5 inches (1.26m) of snow fell solely in
the month of December.
Environmental organization SustainLane ranked Milwaukee, along with Mesa,
Arizona, the least likely to suffer natural disasters, in a study of 50 U.S.
cities measuring the risk of a natural disaster striking the city. The study
used the possibilities of "hurricanes, major flooding, catastrophic hail,
tornado super-outbreaks, and earthquakes" as criteria.
Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rec High °F 62 68 82 91 93 101 103 103 98 89 77 68
Norm High °F 28 32.5 42.6 53.9 66 76.3 81.1 79.1 71.9 60.2 45.7 33.1
Norm Low °F 13.4 18.3 27.3 36.4 46.2 56.3 62.9 62.1 54.1 42.6 31 19.4
Rec Low °F -26 -26 -10 12 21 33 40 44 28 18 -5 -20
Precip (in) 1.85 1.65 2.59 3.78 3.06 3.56 3.58 4.03 3.3 2.49 2.7 2.22
Source: USTravelWeather.com
