Yes, 2024 was a very interesting year. The statewide average temperature was 31.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 12.2 degrees warmer than the 1991-2020 normal. December 2023 to February 2024 was our warmest winter since record-keeping began in 1895. The statewide average temperature for the winter was 28.3 degrees, surpassing the previous record by 2 degrees.
Wisconsin’s average temperature during November 2024 was 38.7 degrees, which is 7.1 degrees above the November average temperature. Seventy out of Wisconsin’s 72 counties recorded a November 2024 average temperature much above average. Overall, 2024 is on track to be Wisconsin’s warmest year on record.
The warmth is not limited to the surface. Atmospheric scientists track the areal extent of air colder than minus 5 centigrade at about 1 mile above the surface of Earth.
This fall (September through November) we recorded the smallest average areal extent of this cold air since at least 1948. That means that 2024 had the warmest Northern Hemisphere autumn in at least the past 77 years.
This year was a tornado year. For the first time, tornadoes were observed in Wisconsin during the month of February: There were 2 of them, an EF1 and an EF2. Through November, more than 1,700 tornadoes were reported nationwide. The final count will come next year, as confirming a tornado takes time.
Three of the four wettest years on record have occurred in this century (2004, 2013 and 2024), and the state’s seasonal precipitation has increased over the long term by 1.5 inches (20% increase) since records began in 1895. May was Wisconsin’s 10th-wettest May. The statewide average precipitation during May was 5.52 inches, which exceeded the 1991-2020 normal by 1.59 inches. June 2024 ranked as Wisconsin’s sixth-wettest June on record.
Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at noon the last Monday of each month. Send them your questions at stevea@ssec.wisc.edu or jemarti1@wisc.edu.
