Milder conditions prevailed in February with high temperatures reaching, or exceeding, 40 degrees on 14 days. This was 8 days above the average and 10^th most in a February for La Crosse. The month would finish almost 3 degrees above normal. It was a very dry start to the month with only 1 day recording 0.02” inches through the 13^th. It was also warm enough that the first 3 days with precipitation fell as rain. Snow finally came with a storm system on the 20^th, with more measurable snow falling over the next 4 days. While it took a while to get snow, it did pile up over the last week plus of February, amounting to 11.5 (almost 2 inches above normal).

It was a mild start to March with the first 8 days recording above normal temperatures. Temps would cool after that, staying at or below normal on 70% of the remaining days. While highs managed to reach of exceed 50 degrees on 6 days, it never warmed past 53 degrees. In an average year, highs exceed that 5 times in a March. Overall, the month rounded out around 2 degrees below normal. Precipitation, on the other hand, finished above normal. Measurable precipitation fell on 12 days, highlighted by thunderstorms dropping 1.67” on the 31^st . Not only was this a record for the 31^st, but also made it the 4^th wettest March day on record for La Crosse. Snowfall was plentiful at the start of the month, with measurable snows falling on half of the first 16 days. After that, there was only one more day with snow, and that only amounted to 0.2” (on the 28^th). The 12.2” total was well above the normal of 7.3”

It was a wet first quarter of the year for La Crosse as precipitation from January through March added up to 7.84” – making it the 2^nd wettest start on record.

April finished right at its normal for average temperature, but accomplished that by large swings in warm to cold conditions. The month started a bit cool for its first week, but quickly warmed to much above normal for the 8^th through 15^th. Highs topped 80 degrees on the 11^th through 14^th, reaching 90 on the 12^th. The 4 days above 80 tied for 7^th most in an April while the 90-degree day on the 12^th tied for the 2^nd earliest occurrence of that kind of warmth. Further, that string also placed as the 5^th warmest 4 day stretch in an April for La Crosse. Those hoping for an early spring, or perhaps an early summer, would be disappointed after that period of warmth as temperatures returned to below normal readings for much of the remaining month. The last freezing temperature would come on the morning of the 26^th (30 degrees), which is the average for La Crosse. April’s precipitation was over ½ below normal, the bulk of which fell in the middle part of the month with the 15^th through 20^th accounting for 80% of the 3.12” total. There was one snow storm of note, dropping 9.5” over the 16^th-17^th. The 7.0” on the 16^th set a record for that day and was the 3^rd snowiest day on record in an April at La Crosse. That storm accounted for nearly the entire April total (one additional day with only 0.1”), but helped make it the 8^th snowiest April on record (9.6”).

With the last snowfall for the 2022-23 winter season falling in April, La Crosse’s snow total topped out at 63.7” – marking it as the 15st snowiest winter on record.

May would experience a fair amount of fluctuations when it came to day-to-day temperatures, ranging from a high of 55 on the 1^st to 91 on the 31^st. Temps reached or exceed 80 degrees 13 times in May, well above the average of 6 and tied for 9^th most in a May. On the whole, May would average around 2 degrees above normal. After a relatively wet start to the year, May dried it out. There were only 7 days with measurable precipitation (average is 12), with nothing falling after the 18^th. The 1.75” total was over 2 ½” below normal. 

Mother Nature put the clamps on the rain as we moved into August. There would only be 5 days with measurable rains, half of what occurs on average and tied for 7^th least. 75% of the month’s total fell on the 11^th (1.04”) while only a trace of rain was recorded after the 17^th. The 1.38” total was 2 1/2 “below normal. The first, and only 100 degree day occurred in August, topping out at 104 on the 23^rd, not only setting a record for that day but also tying it for the 7^th hottest day on record in La Crosse.

The summer was very dry by La Crosse standards. Only 8.2” inches fell from June through August, almost 4 inches below average.

September got the traditional fall months off to a very warm start, heating up into the 90s on 4 of the first 5 days of the month, setting records on the 3^rd and 4^th. Temps nosedived after that as highs would drop back into the 70s on 22 of the remaining 25 days, not warming out of the 60s on two of them. Despite that, it was warm enough for September to not just finish close to 4 degrees above normal, but also make it the 5th warmest September on record. The dry trend persisted in September. There were 10 days with measurable rainfall, which is the monthly average, but on 7 of those days amounts failed to crack 2/10” of an inch. The month finished 1 ¼” below normal.

Like September, it was a warm start to October. The last 90-degree day of 2023 was recorded on the 1^st (91), over a month later than the average last 90 degree day in a year for La Crosse (August 27^th). A couple 80+ degree days followed, with a couple more days then topping out in the 70s. The average temp over that stretch made it the 3^rd warmest start to an October on record. Temperatures would fall back to, or below, the monthly normal, with just one more 5 day stretch of warmer days near the end of the month. On the whole, October finished 1 ½ degrees above normal. The month started dry with only 0.02” of rain falling through the 11^th. After that, precipitation would be more common, falling on half of the remaining days. 5 of those days would record more than ¼”. In addition, the first measurable snow of the 2023-24 winter season would fall on Halloween (1.1”). Not only was this over a week earlier than the average first measurable snow(11/11) but was tied for 7^th first inch or more on record for La Crosse.  

November brought a variety of temperatures to La Crosse with highs topping out at 62 but also never warming to 25 degrees on a couple days. Similar to October, despite the swings in temperatures, November would finish almost 1 ½ degrees above normal. Unlike the wet conditions of October, November would turn very dry. It took until the 25^th to record any measurable precipitation, and even then, there would only be 3 such days. The monthly total of 0.14” tied this November for the 5^th driest on record.   

It was a relatively warm fall for La Crosse with September through November averaging 53.6 degrees, making it the 9^th warmest on record.

December would end 2023 in La Crosse much like it began with very mild temperatures. Aside from a couple below normal days on the 1^st and 2^nd, temperatures soared well above normal through the rest of the month. Highs reached or exceeded 50 degrees on 6 days, tied for 4^th most in a December and well above the average of 1. In fact, it never dropped below 50 degrees on Christmas day. Further, low temperatures only cooled under 20 degrees on 4 days – 3^rd least in a December and well, well under the average of 18 such days. Additionally, lows never even dropped into the single digits (an average December has 10 such days) which has only occurred in 5 other Decembers. A very mild December indeed. Precipitation was fairly sparse for the month with less than 1 inch falling, approximately ½” below normal. Snowfall suffered even more with only 1 ½” falling for the entire month, marking it as the 9^th least snowy December on record (tied with previous years).