Today: The taste of spring leaves Milwaukee on Tuesday as we return to semi-normal temperatures but not before a small risk of severe weather. On Tuesday morning, we should see partly cloudy skies as temperatures rise through the mid 30s with winds out of the north-northeast around 20 mph sustained and gusts around 30 mph! By the afternoon, mostly cloudy skies will be in place as temperatures top out in the low 40s for a high. Winds will become more northeasterly maintaining its speed. By the evening, the weather will become interesting due to a strong low-pressure system. The system will stay stalled out along the Wisconsin-Illinois border with a long stationary front attached that runs west to east. This front will act as an igniter for some possibly severe thunderstorms. The greatest severe risk remains well to the south of Milwaukee; however, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has included the Milwaukee area in a Level 1 (out of 5) Marginal Risk for severe weather. This means isolated storms near Milwaukee may be severe. The greatest threats from any thunderstorm will be quarter-size hail and high winds around 60 mph. Storms will form in northern Illinois along the stationary front and move northeast, arriving around 7 p.m. Our thunderstorms won’t be constant, but rather cluster-like with on and off intensity. Besides the storms, overcast conditions will be in place with a breezy northeast wind still around 15 mph with higher gusts.
Overnight: Storms and showers will continue until 2 a.m. Then, a little break will happen as the low pressure and stationary front will start to move off to the northeast. This will leave Milwaukee with overcast conditions, temperatures sinking into the mid 30s for a low, and breezy winds sustained between 10-15 mph turning to the northwest throughout the overnight hours.
Tomorrow: By Wednesday, Milwaukee will be on the back side of this low-pressure system. Because of a connected low-pressure trough behind, the main low pressure will sweep through Wisconsin from west to east. The trough will act as a catalyst for a band of light snow. In Milwaukee, snow should start by 11 a.m., peak from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., break occasionally, and end by 7 p.m. Accumulation looks to be light with little to none. Other weather conditions on Wednesday will feature mostly cloudy skies, temperatures only making it into the mid 30s for a high and northwest winds around 15-20 mph sustained by the afternoon. By the evening and into the overnight hours, winds will begin to slowly ease back to around 5 mph. Temperatures will slide back into the mid 20s with skies clearing out.
Thursday: The day will start off with a weak high-pressure system to our southwest which will move eastward throughout the day. This system will produce mostly sunny skies in the morning, as temperatures rise through the 30s with northwest wind around 10 mph. High temperatures should reach the low 40s with west-northwest winds 5-10 mph by the early afternoon. Into the evening, skies will quickly become overcast, and winds will turn to the southwest because of a low-pressure system approaching from the northwest trailing a cold front into the south. Around 6 p.m. with an 80% chance, a little wet snow will start to fall and transition into rain showers by the overnight hours. No accumulation is expected out of this clipper system. Winds Thursday night be from the southwest and turning to the west by Friday morning with speeds between 20-25 mph sustained and possibly higher gusts. Furthermore, temperatures will cool into the mid 30s for an overnight low.
Extended: More active weather will be impacting the Milwaukee area further out, but temperatures will trend cooler by the end of the week. By Friday morning, precipitation will come to an end as the low-pressure system starts moving farther off to the east. Skies will gradually clear in the morning which will lead to a mostly sunny day. Temperatures will reach the mid 40s for a high in the afternoon with strong northwest winds between 20-25 mph sustained. All this nice weather is made possible by a weak high-pressure system that will drop down from Canada and station itself over the Ohio River Valley. Over the course of the evening and into overnight, winds will gradually decrease and turn to come from the east around 5 mph as temperatures dive below freezing and settle in the low 30s for a low. By Saturday morning a more potent weather-maker will be on the way towards Wisconsin. We are tracking a potent low-pressure system that will approach from the west and move along the Wisconsin-Illinois border Saturday night into Sunday. Ahead of this, light to moderate snow will start approximately mid-morning and will continue on and off Saturday. Any snow amounts and precipitation types are still inconclusive between models for the Milwaukee area. However, with this weather maker approaching and the light to moderate snow showers, overcast skies will dominate the day with temperatures in the high 30s to near 40 for a high. Winds will be primarily out of the east with sustained speeds between 5-10 mph through the day. Finally, Saturday night winds will increase to 10-15 mph sustained and start slowly turning to the northeast with the aforementioned low pressure arriving. Overcast skies continue with rain/snow chances of 60%. Please monitor the local forecast this weekend if you are out and about because of rapid changing conditions!
