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Shaded-relief map of Bradford, Wisconsin: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
WISCONSIN · ROCK COUNTY

Bradford

1,000 people, 920 ft above sea level in Rock County.

920 ftElevation, city center
1,000People, 2024 estimate
36 sq miLand area
Sunny 45°
Sunny now Dew point 27° · NW 13 mph · high 43°
City of Bradford River Interstate 2 miles
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The Bradford plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Bradford

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 2:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW Janesville-Rock County (KJVL) · 1:45 PM
Sunny
45° Sunny Feels like 38° · high of 43° near 2 PM
WindNW 13 mphno gusts
Humidity49%falling to 55% this afternoon
Pressure30.26 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 27° · Dryabout the same for three days
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Showers
Friday40% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 60.01 in · 8 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Rock County
NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 2:47 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 6:45 AM4:34 PM ↓
9 h 48 m of daylight, 2 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 25% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
16
GOODAir quality index · fine particles
Tomorrow: None, good. No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
clear day
clear night
clear night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
clear day
clear day
clear night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
partly cloudy day
mostly clear night
clear night
clear night
clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
TEMPERATURE °F
43°
25°
47°
25°
49°
32°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
7
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
10
10
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12
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 23 to 34°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 47° / 29°
SAT Nov. 14 Sunny Sunny
43° 23°
0% rain — NNW 7 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
49° 24°
0% rain — N 0 A
MON Nov. 16 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
52° 30°
0% rain — SW 8 A
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
55° 34°
0% rain — S 10 A
WED Nov. 18 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
56° 43°
10% rain — S 14 B
THU Nov. 19 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
59° 41°
20% rain — WSW 8 C
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
59° 47°
40% rain up to 0.08″ SE 10 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Bradford about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Gulf of Alaska three days ago, and over the northern Plains a day ago, about 2,860 miles back along its path. It came down from about 12,900 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. It feels dry all the same. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK, FOUR YEARS AGO Nov. 11, 2022

The hottest this week has been

75° on Nov. 11, 2022, the hottest reading for this week of the year since 1987. Next is 71° in 1989.

71°
75°
19892022
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Afton - Janesville Wwtp record since 1987.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What Bradford stands on

Bradford’s center stands about 920 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 840 ft to 980 ft, a difference of 140 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Mount Zion, about 1,080 ft, 8 miles northwest.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Sinnipee Group (dolostone), from the Ordovician, 445 to 487 million years old.

The section below crosses 4 rock units mapped at the surface.

Janesville to Walworth, cut in half

A section northwest to southeast, 24 miles through the town center
800 ft900 ft1,000 ft BRADFORD920 ftJanesville810 ftDarien920 ftWalworth1,020 ft ← NW · JanesvilleWalworth · SE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 64×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Sinnipee Group

Dolostone. Age: Ordovician, 445 to 487 million years old. About 19 mi of the line.

Ancell Group

Sandstone. Age: Ordovician, 445 to 487 million years old. About 3 mi of the line.

Cambrian, undivided

Sandstone. Age: Cambrian, 487 to 542 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.

Prairie du Chien Group

Dolostone. Age: Early Ordovician, 471 to 487 million years old. About 0.5 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE3
THE WATER

Where Bradford’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in Bradford reaches the Gulf of America by way of Spring Brook, Turtle Creek, the Rock River and the Mississippi: about 1,640 river miles.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
Bradford≈ 1,640 mi · the Gulf of America
FROM THE CENTER OF BRADFORD ≈ 1,640 mi to the Gulf of America Spring Brook → Turtle Creek → Rock River → Mississippi

Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Bradford; river miles along the main stem, rounded.

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

Bradford’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1987 · Afton - Janesville Wwtp, 12 mi west

Bradford has a hot-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 84° in July; winter nights fall to about 12° in January. A normal year brings about 37 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 37 inches of water.

28°12°33°15°45°25°58°36°70°48°80°58°84°62°82°59°75°51°62°39°46°28°34°18° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY BRADFORD 37.4 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average84° / 62°high / low, the warmest month
January, average28° / 12°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow37.4 inwettest months: June and August
Snow a year36.6 insnowiest: January
Hottest on record103°FJuly 7, 2012
Coldest on record−31°FFebruary 3, 1996
Wettest day on record4.22 inAugust 5, 2007
Snowiest day on record12.5 inDecember 7, 1994
90° days a year13very few reach 100°
Nights at or below 32°148and 55 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHot-summer humid continentalKöppen Dfa

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Oct. 10, to the last in spring, about April 27 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingDec. 19 to Feb. 16; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingNov. 5 to April 5; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchJune through August: 13.5 of the year’s 37.4 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Bradford normally reaches 47° and falls to 29°. The record high is 70°, in 1999; the record low 10°, in 1996. The most rain on this date, 0.65 in, fell in 2001.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high28°33°45°58°70°80°84°82°75°62°46°34°
Normal low12°15°25°36°48°58°62°59°51°39°28°18°
Rain and melt, in1.631.612.063.574.094.994.194.343.732.992.331.90
Snow, inches10.810.14.11.30.00.00.00.00.00.22.47.7
Record high60° (2008)74° (2024)83° (2012)89° (2002)96° (2018)101° (1988)103° (2012)102° (1988)96° (2000)89° (2025)76° (2016)67° (2021)
Record low−30° (2019)−31° (1996)−12° (2015)15° (2018)27° (2005)36° (1993)45° (2001)43° (2009)28° (1995)14° (1988)−4° (1995)−25° (2000)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1987 at Afton - Janesville Wwtp, 12 miles west, 160 ft lower. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Bradford on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Rockford IL · 28 MI 28 miles southwest Waukesha WI · 40 MI 40 miles northeast Madison WI · 44 MI 44 miles northwest Milwaukee WI · 53 MI 53 miles northeast Chicago IL · 80 MI 80 miles southeast Grand Rapids MI · 163 MI 163 miles east
FORECASTCITY
Map of Bradford, Wisconsin. Explore the plate
WISCONSIN · ROCK

Bradford

1,000 people, 920 ft above sea level in Rock County.

920 ftElevation
1,000People
36 sq miLand
Sunny 45°
SunnyDew point 27°
1

Today in Bradford

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now clear day 43° 0%
5p clear night 38° 0%
8p clear night 32° 0%
11p mostly clear night 29° 0%
2a mostly clear night 27° 0%
5a partly cloudy night 25° 0%
Showers
NEXT RAINFriday · 40%
→
Sat0%
Sunny Sunny
23
43
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
24
49
A
Mon0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
30
52
A
Tue0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
34
55
A
Wed10%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
43
56
B
Thu20%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
41
59
C
Fri40%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
47
59
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK, FOUR YEARS AGO · NOV. 11, 2022

75°, the hottest this week of the year has been since 1987.

2

What Bradford stands on

Bradford’s center stands about 920 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 840 ft to 980 ft, a difference of 140 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Mount Zion, about 1,080 ft, 8 miles northwest.

Bradford, northwest to southeast Bradford920 ft ← NWSE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center920 ft
Within 3 miles840 to 980 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (140 ft of relief)
High point nearbyMount Zion, 1,080 ft, 8 mi northwest
Rock at the surfaceSinnipee Group
Its ageOrdovician, 445 to 487 million years old
5

Bradford’s year

Bradford has a hot-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 84° in July; winter nights fall to about 12° in January. A normal year brings about 37 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 37 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 37.4 in
July, average84° / 62° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average28° / 12° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow37.4 in · wettest months: June and August
Snow a year36.6 in · snowiest: January
Hottest on record103°F · July 7, 2012
Coldest on record−31°F · February 3, 1996
Wettest day on record4.22 in · August 5, 2007
Snowiest day on record12.5 in · December 7, 1994
90° days a year13 · very few reach 100°
Nights at or below 32°148 · and 55 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHot-summer humid continental · Köppen Dfa
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Oct. 10, to the last in spring, about April 27 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Dec. 19 to Feb. 16; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Nov. 5 to April 5; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · June through August: 13.5 of the year’s 37.4 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Bradford normally reaches 47° and falls to 29°. The record high is 70°, in 1999; the record low 10°, in 1996. The most rain on this date, 0.65 in, fell in 2001.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1987 at Afton - Janesville Wwtp, 12 miles west, 160 ft lower. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 1,640 mito the Gulf of AmericaSpring Brook → Turtle Creek → Rock River → Mississippi

A raindrop that lands in Bradford reaches the Gulf of America by way of Spring Brook, Turtle Creek, the Rock River and the Mississippi: about 1,640 river miles.