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Weather extremes

How extreme does Watertown's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Watertown has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Watertown Wwtp station 2 km away. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Watertown has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day
102°F Aug 2, 1988

That is about 22°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Watertown (typical high near 80°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 102°F Aug 2, 1988
2 102°F Aug 18, 1988
3 102°F Jul 6, 2012
❄️ Coldest night
-31°F Jan 19, 1994

About 42°F colder than a normal January night in Watertown (typical low near 11°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -31°F Jan 19, 1994
2 -31°F Feb 1, 2019
3 -29°F Jan 20, 1994
🌧️ Most rain in one day
6.65 in Jul 11, 1982

More rain in a single day than Watertown usually gets in the whole month of July (typical July total about 4.5 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 6.65 in Jul 11, 1982
2 5.42 in Aug 18, 2018
3 5.25 in Sep 12, 2022
Most snow in one day
13.0 in Jan 3, 1999

Close to a whole typical January's snow in one day (Watertown averages about 11 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 13.0 in Jan 3, 1999
2 12.0 in Feb 7, 2008
3 11.5 in Jan 1, 1979

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

-50°-30°-10°10°30°50°70°90°110°130° all-time high 102°F JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Watertown's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 102°F is about 22°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Watertown's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the low 10s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 102°F and as low as −31°F. A single day has delivered over 7 inches of rain or close to 13 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.
Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Madison Dane CO Rgnl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014837), about 50 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →