🏕 Camping Forecast

Welcome to the Upper Midwest Camping Forecast! This app ranks all 131 Wisconsin and Minnesota state parks by day-by-day camping conditions over the next 7 days. Forecasts are updated four times a day.

How scores work

Each park gets a daily camping score from 0 to 1 — higher is better. It's a weighted blend of these factors:

• TemperatureScores highest when the daytime high is comfortably warm — not too cold, not too hot.
• PrecipitationLight drizzle is a minor penalty. Heavy rain significantly drops the score.
• WindCalm conditions score highest. Penalty kicks in above 15 mph.
• MosquitosHigher score means fewer expected mosquitoes. Combines nearby wetland habitat with forecast temperature, rain, and wind.
• StormsFlags days with a thunderstorm forecast (WMO codes 95/96/99). A storm day scores 0 — this stacks on top of any rain penalty.
• Air QualityBlends Open-Meteo's AQI model with official EPA AirNow observations and forecasts, so wildfire smoke events are caught. Scores 1.0 at AQI ≤ 50 (Good), 0 at AQI ≥ 150 — and hazardous smoke (AQI 150–300+) collapses the whole camping score toward 0, like a storm does.

StargazingShown in the detail chart based on cloud cover, but not included in the camping score — cloudy nights don't ruin a trip.

Map colors

Use the date tabs to see how conditions shift day by day.

Built by 4th Coast Consulting

Need custom data pipelines, forecasting models, or geospatial analysis? 4thcoastconsulting.com