Rainfall totals Madison, WI
Through Oct 7, 2026, Madison has received 32.42 inches of rain for the year, according to the official daily climate report. The normal year-to-date total is 31.17 inches. The normal figure is what the city would typically have seen by this point in the calendar. This reading comes from the station gauge at MADISON in the National Weather Service's daily climate report.
as of
Data from Madison Dane County Regional Airport, with records back to 1939. Across the record from 1939, 100 percent of days have a reading, with 100 percent in 2025.
Most recent rainfall
1.24 inches of rain fell on Oct 1, 2026, the latest measurable rainfall this year.
MADISON saw no measurable rain on Oct 7, 2026, according to the National Weather Service daily climate report.
Official rainfall report for Oct 7, 2026
| Measured | Normal | vs normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on Oct 7, 2026 | 0.00 inches | 0.08 inches | -0.08 inches |
| Last 48 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 72 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 7 days | 1.24 inches | ||
| Month to date | 1.24 inches | 0.66 inches | +0.58 inches (+88%) |
| Year to date | 32.42 inches | 31.17 inches | +1.25 inches (+4%) |
| Record for Oct 7 | 1.56 inches | 1882 |
Source: National Weather Service daily climate report for MADISON, issued the morning after Oct 7, 2026. The local National Weather Service office issues the daily climate report for the airport station the next morning, and that report is the official figure.
How much rain did Madison get?
Days with measurable rain, 2026
| Date | Rainfall |
|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 1.24 inches |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 0.14 inches |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 0.08 inches |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 0.05 inches |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.04 inches |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 1.45 inches |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 0.67 inches |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 0.50 inches |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 0.16 inches |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 0.08 inches |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
| Sep 3, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
| Sep 1, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Aug 30, 2026 | 0.05 inches |
| Aug 29, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 1.42 inches |
| Aug 18, 2026 | 0.44 inches |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 0.12 inches |
| Aug 11, 2026 | 0.07 inches |
| Aug 9, 2026 | 1.11 inches |
| Aug 5, 2026 | 0.13 inches |
| Aug 1, 2026 | 1.26 inches |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 0.97 inches |
| Jul 20, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Jul 18, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Jul 17, 2026 | 0.11 inches |
With 1.87 inches on Jun 24, 2026, this is the 133rd wettest of the 10,517 measurable rain days in the Madison Dane County Regional Airport record, which begins in 1939. That is the most rain recorded at this station on June 24 since 1939.
Through Oct 3, 2026, the GHCN-Daily station record shows 32.42 inches of measurable rain so far this year, falling over a 100-day span. Station observations are from GHCN-Daily, with a 1-3 day lag and quality checks by NOAA.
Madison rainfall by month, 2026
| Month | Rainfall | Normal | vs normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.68 inches | 1.47 inches | +0.21 inches (+14%) |
| February | 0.63 inches | 1.52 inches | -0.89 inches (-59%) |
| March | 3.26 inches | 2.26 inches | +1.00 inches (+44%) |
| April | 7.26 inches | 3.78 inches | +3.48 inches (+92%) |
| May | 1.62 inches | 4.10 inches | -2.48 inches (-60%) |
| June | 6.57 inches | 5.28 inches | +1.29 inches (+24%) |
| July | 1.92 inches | 4.51 inches | -2.59 inches (-57%) |
| August | 4.63 inches | 4.16 inches | +0.47 inches (+11%) |
| September | 3.61 inches | 3.43 inches | +0.18 inches (+5%) |
| October | 1.24 inches | 2.77 inches |
October is still in progress; figures run through Oct 3, 2026. Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
Rainfall days at each threshold in Madison
| Year | 0.5+ in. | 1+ in. | 2+ in. | 3+ in. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 2 |
| 2023 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 23 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 26 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 35 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| 2017 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 24 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Average | 20.6 | 6.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
A day counts when its rainfall total meets or passes the column amount, from Madison Dane County Regional Airport records in GHCN-Daily. Every complete year starting with 1939 counts toward the average, 86 years in total.
Past rainfall years in Madison
All-time rainfall records
| Wettest day | 4.51 inches | Jun 17, 1996 |
|---|---|---|
| Wettest year | 50.64 inches | 2018 |
| Driest year | 20.78 inches | 1943 |
| Average year | 33.08 inches | 86 complete years on record |
| Rain days a year | 121 | average, 0.01 inch or more |
| Record begins | 1939 | 31,764 daily readings |
Monthly rainfall normals
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | 1.47 | 1.52 | 2.26 | 3.78 | 4.10 | 5.28 | 4.51 | 4.16 | 3.43 | 2.77 | 2.22 | 1.63 | 37.13 |
Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
The daily climate report is issued by the local National Weather Service forecast office and delivered to this page by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.