2023 goes down as the warmest year on record but behind on precipitation

 

2023 was overall an extremely warm year and we were chasing average precipitation almost all year long. As we've told you before, the entire year of 2023 was the warmest year on record in Milwaukee! The average temperature of 52.2* beat the old record of 51.9* set in both 2012 and 1931. 

The warmth during 2023 was consistent all year long. January kicked things off well above average. Only March and June were below average on temperatures and then by only a few tenths of a degree. December was actually the most above average month by a whopping ten degrees!

The coldest temperature of the year in 2023 came right at the end of January when the low dropped to -3* for an air temperature not even factoring in a wind chill. The middle of summer at the end of August saw the hottest temperature of the year when we got into the 100s for the second year in a row.

When it came to precipitation we were chasing average all year long. The year started off a bit wet but then really dried out in the spring months when we need it the most for planting. That caused drought conditions to return but eventually go away with a wet end to summer and start to fall. December ended above average on precipitation for the month but it wasn't enough and the year 2023 officially goes down about a half inch below average on precipitation.

Download the CBS 58 Ready Weather app to track the temps and precip chances going into 2024.