FORECAST CITY
Sign in
Shaded-relief map of How, Wisconsin: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
WISCONSIN · OCONTO COUNTY

How

525 people, 890 ft above sea level in Oconto County.

890 ftElevation, city center
525People, 2024 estimate
35 sq miLand area
Clear 32°
Clear now Dew point 30° · Calm · high 37°
City of How River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The How 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 How

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 5:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW Oconto J. Douglas Bake Municipal Airport (KOCQ) · 5:35 PM
Clear
32° Clear Feels like 32° · high of 37° near 5 PM
WindCalmno gusts
Humidity92%rising to 96% by morning
Pressure30.28 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 30° · Dry22° by Sunday: drier air arrives
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Showers
Thursday30% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 70.02 in · 7 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Oconto County
NWS Green Bay and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 5:47 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 6:49 AM4:26 PM ↓
9 h 36 m of daylight, 2 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 26% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
28
GOODAir quality index · ozone
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
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear 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
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
TEMPERATURE °F
37°
23°
45°
25°
49°
33°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
3
1
2
2
3
3
7
10
10
8
8
8
8
8
9
12
10
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 22 to 36°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 45° / 28°
SAT Nov. 14 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
37° 22°
0% rain — N 2 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
48° 23°
0% rain — SW 2 A
MON Nov. 16 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
51° 32°
0% rain — SW 8 A
TUE Nov. 17 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
55° 36°
0% rain — SSW 9 A
WED Nov. 18 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
55° 42°
10% rain — SSW 10 B
THU Nov. 19 Chance of showers Chance of showers
57° 37°
30% rain up to 0.08″ W 5 B
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
55° 42°
50% rain up to 0.2″ SSE 3 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 How about 5,000 feet above the ground was over British Columbia three days ago, and over the Canadian Prairies a day ago, about 2,220 miles back along its path. It came down from about 9,900 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. Near the ground the air came from British Columbia; at 10,000 feet, from the open Pacific. It has stayed over land, which is why it feels dry. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK IN 1986 Nov. 13, 1986

The coldest this week has been

−4° on Nov. 13, 1986, the coldest reading for this week of the year since 1959. Next is −3° in 1959.

−3°
−4°
19591986
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Suring record since 1959.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What How stands on

How’s center stands about 890 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 790 ft to 960 ft, a difference of 170 ft: gently rolling country.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Wolf River batholith; Wolf River Granite, from the Mesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old.

The section below crosses 3 rock units mapped at the surface.

How, cut in half from northwest to southeast

A section northwest to southeast, 24 miles through the town center
800 ft900 ft1,000 ft1,100 ft HOW890 ftHigh point of the line1,160 ftGillett820 ftOconto Riverabout 730 ft ← NWSE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 45×. 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

Wolf River batholith; Wolf River Granite

Granite. Age: Mesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old. About 14 mi of the line.

Cambrian, undivided

Sandstone. Age: Cambrian, 487 to 542 million years old. About 9 mi of the line.

Prairie du Chien Group

Dolostone. Age: Early Ordovician, 471 to 487 million years old. About 1 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 How’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in How reaches Lake Michigan by way of Hayes Creek, the South Branch Oconto and the Oconto: about 65 river miles. From there it moves on through the Great Lakes, over Niagara Falls and down the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
How≈ 65 mi · Lake Michigan
FROM THE CENTER OF HOW ≈ 65 mi to Lake Michigan and the St. Lawrence Hayes Creek → South Branch Oconto → Oconto

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

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

How’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1959 · Suring, 3 mi east-northeast

How has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 79° in July; winter nights fall to about 5° in January. A normal year brings about 57 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 32 inches of water.

24°5°29°7°40°18°53°30°66°42°75°52°79°56°77°55°70°47°56°35°42°24°29°13° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY HOW 32.1 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average79° / 56°high / low, the warmest month
January, average24° / 5°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow32.1 inwettest months: June and July
Snow a year56.6 insnowiest: December
Hottest on record101°FJuly 31, 1975
Coldest on record−44°FFebruary 3, 1996
Wettest day on record3.68 inMay 17, 1992
Snowiest day on record17.5 inMarch 15, 2026
90° days a year4on average, 1991–2020
Nights at or below 32°179and 73 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continentalKöppen Dfb

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Sept. 29, to the last in spring, about May 18 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingDec. 5 to Feb. 26; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingOct. 23 to April 22; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchMay through July: 11.7 of the year’s 32.1 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 How normally reaches 42° and falls to 25°. The record high is 68°, in 1999; the record low 7°, in 1965. The most rain on this date, 0.52 in, fell in 1994.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high24°29°40°53°66°75°79°77°70°56°42°29°
Normal low5°7°18°30°42°52°56°55°47°35°24°13°
Rain and melt, in1.341.131.792.893.434.224.063.233.472.822.011.69
Snow, inches11.613.38.86.30.10.00.00.00.00.62.313.6
Record high56° (1973)67° (2024)81° (2012)91° (1980)92° (2022)100° (1970)101° (1975)99° (1973)95° (1976)90° (1963)74° (2020)62° (2001)
Record low−41° (1982)−44° (1996)−39° (1962)−3° (1975)12° (1966)26° (1972)28° (1972)29° (1968)16° (1974)8° (1976)−16° (1976)−29° (1972)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1959 at Suring, 3 miles east-northeast. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around How on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Howard WI · 33 MI 33 miles southeast Green Bay WI · 38 MI 38 miles southeast Milwaukee WI · 134 MI 134 miles south Racine WI · 159 MI 159 miles south Grand Rapids MI · 196 MI 196 miles southeast Wyoming MI · 198 MI 198 miles southeast
FORECASTCITY
Map of How, Wisconsin. Explore the plate
WISCONSIN · OCONTO

How

525 people, 890 ft above sea level in Oconto County.

890 ftElevation
525People
35 sq miLand
Clear 32°
ClearDew point 30°
1

Today in How

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now mostly clear night 37° 0%
8p mostly clear night 34° 0%
11p mostly clear night 29° 0%
2a mostly clear night 26° 0%
5a mostly clear night 24° 0%
8a mostly sunny 28° 0%
Showers
NEXT RAINThursday · 30%
→
Sat0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
22
37
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
23
48
A
Mon0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
32
51
A
Tue0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
36
55
A
Wed10%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
42
55
B
Thu30%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
37
57
B
Fri50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
42
55
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 1986 · NOV. 13, 1986

−4°, the coldest this week of the year has been since 1959.

2

What How stands on

How’s center stands about 890 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 790 ft to 960 ft, a difference of 170 ft: gently rolling country.

How, northwest to southeast How890 ftOconto Riverabout 730 ft ← NWSE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 86×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center890 ft
Within 3 miles790 to 960 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (170 ft of relief)
Rock at the surfaceWolf River batholith; Wolf River Granite
Its ageMesoproterozoic, 1 to 1.6 billion years old
5

How’s year

How has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 79° in July; winter nights fall to about 5° in January. A normal year brings about 57 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 32 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 32.1 in
July, average79° / 56° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average24° / 5° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow32.1 in · wettest months: June and July
Snow a year56.6 in · snowiest: December
Hottest on record101°F · July 31, 1975
Coldest on record−44°F · February 3, 1996
Wettest day on record3.68 in · May 17, 1992
Snowiest day on record17.5 in · March 15, 2026
90° days a year4 · on average, 1991–2020
Nights at or below 32°179 · and 73 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continental · Köppen Dfb
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Sept. 29, to the last in spring, about May 18 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Dec. 5 to Feb. 26; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Oct. 23 to April 22; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · May through July: 11.7 of the year’s 32.1 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 How normally reaches 42° and falls to 25°. The record high is 68°, in 1999; the record low 7°, in 1965. The most rain on this date, 0.52 in, fell in 1994.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1959 at Suring, 3 miles east-northeast. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 65 mito Lake MichiganHayes Creek → South Branch Oconto → Oconto

A raindrop that lands in How reaches Lake Michigan by way of Hayes Creek, the South Branch Oconto and the Oconto: about 65 river miles. From there it moves on through the Great Lakes, over Niagara Falls and down the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic.