Today: Monday is shaping up to be a very active weather day across the Milwaukee area. The morning hours will be more active than the afternoon as temperatures will begin to rise slightly through the negative single digits to just 3℉ above which will be our high by the early afternoon. Winds in the morning will be the real story as the area could see sustained wind speeds around 15- 25 mph from the west-northwest and gusts could be around 40 mph in the morning, but calming a bit by the afternoon to around 25 to 30 mph. With temperatures this low and strong northwest winds the national weather service has issued a wind chill advisory for the Milwaukee area until noon. This means winds will lower the air temperatures to around -25 to -30 degrees below zero. With temperatures this low frostbite can occur in as little as 30 minutes with exposed skin, so if you have to go out be sure to bundle up. Furthermore, the national weather service has issued a winter weather advisory for Milwaukee as well until noon. This advisory is more for the winds as well as an additional inch of accumulation could have fallen by Sunday night and the wind could blow the freshly fallen snow around a bit and create slick pots for the Monday morning commute. This is all in part to a weak shortwave trough that will produce spotty snow showers Sunday overnight and cloudy skies for the majority of Monday. Take a few minutes to get to your destination if you are out Monday morning.
Overnight: Winds will ease into the overnight hours. Temperatures will tank once again sinking down into the mid negative single digits as winds become more westerly around 10-15 mph sustained, but gusts could still be around 25 mph overnight. We’ll have to see if a cold weather advisory is extended for Monday night, but as of right now I don’t think so.
Tomorrow: Tuesday looks to be once again another active weather day across Milwaukee. During the morning and afternoon hours things look fairly calm. Temperatures will rebound slightly making into the low teens for a high in the afternoon with winds west-southwest sustained between 5-10 mph. Sunny skies look to be the norm as a weak high pressure system stations itself to the south and west of Wisconsin. This system will begin to move away through the course of Tuesday as another low pressure system looks to impact Wisconsin by Tuesday evening. A low pressure system bearing a shortwave trough will impact southern Wisconsin. This system will bring a good 2-4 inches of new snow to the Milwaukee area Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning. Computer models are still a little uncertain about the exact timing of this system, so check back for further updates. By the evening and into the overnight hours temperatures will fall to around 10 degrees for a low as snow continues to fall and winds will turn to the south with sustained speeds below 5 mph under mostly cloudy skies.
Extended: Wednesday will be the messiest day out of the extended and then another blast of arctic air will be in store for the end the week. Two areas of low pressure one to the north and another to the south of Wisconsin joined by a stationary front which will push through Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning which will produce the 2-4 inches of snow aforementioned. Then the northern low pressure that was connected to the southern low pressure system will sweep through a cold front Thursday morning. The cold air won’t arrive Thursday, but Friday morning when an article high pressure system sets up to the West of Wisconsin.
Because of this set up temperatures in the extended (Wednesday-Friday) will be on a bit of a roller coaster. Wednesday and Thursday we’ll see high in the mid teens and around 20 degrees Wednesday, but by Friday highs go back to the low single digits thanks to the arctic high pressure system with high winds once again. Skies will be mostly cloudy despite Friday because of the multitude of weather makers moving through the area. Winds will stay pretty steady Wednesday and Thursday generally out of the west between 5-10 mph sustained. Friday will be a different story with the passing cold front and arctic high pressure building in, however it is too early to say how gusty winds will get, but it could look a lot like today.
