Today: Monday Milwaukee’s active winter weather will continue. The morning and afternoon will be controlled by a dome of high pressure which stationed itself to the southwest of Wisconsin last night. With this in mind overcast conditions will control the skies with light wind around 5 mph from the southwest which will last through the afternoon as temperatures top out in the mid 20’s for a daytime high. By the late afternoon another low pressure system yet again could clip the Milwaukee area. This system will not be as strong as the one Saturday although a light accumulation of snow is expected. An inch to perhaps an inch in a half is expected across the Milwaukee area in the evening into overnight Monday night (5pm- 1am).
Overnight: With the light snowfall continuing into the early overnight (ending by 1 am) overcast conditions will persist throughout the rest of the night with winds remaining consistent around 5 mph, however they will begin to change to the northwest through the overnight hours. Finally, temperatures will lower in to the upper teens for an overnight low.
Tomorrow: Tuesday will finally feature a break in this active winter weather cycle as another high pressure system from the south will start to take hold over Wisconsin’s weather. Despite the high pressure, skies will remain overcast through the morning and early afternoon. Furthermore, temperatures will rise through the mid teens before maxing out in the mid 20’s in the afternoon with winds around 5-10 mph from the northwest in the morning, but turning back to the southwest by the early afternoon. By the late afternoon skies will look to clear a little bit, which means we could see some peaks of sunshine at the end of the day. Skies will begin to cloud over again by the evening and into the overnight with temperatures settling in the high teens for an overnight low with winds increasing to around 10-15 mph sustained but still from the southwest.
Extended: Heading into the middle and end of the week more active winter weather will be on the way. The first half of Wednesday will remain calm with temperatures reaching the low 30’s for a daytime high and winds (5-10 mph) out of the southwest with mostly cloudy conditions. However, this all changes Wednesday evening as a very strong cold front bisects Wisconsin from the west wind and begins to change to the northwest. Not much snow is expected from this front, but what this front lacks in snow it makes up for in how it will change Milwaukee’s temperatures. As I mentioned Milwaukee could see dusting of snow ahead of this front around midday however, by the late afternoon and evening hours temperatures will begin to drop significantly as the cold front begins to move through. This temperature trend will continue overnight with low temperatures resting in the low single digits. What is concerning, is that these low temperatures combined with gusty northwest winds with sustained speeds around 10-15 mph will drive temperatures into the negative teens for an overnight low, which is by far the coldest air we have seen in a while. Thursday and Friday temperatures will begin to rebound slowly which is courtesy of a wind change caused by a strong high pressure system which will be approaching from the south. The Milwaukee area will see winds turn back to the southwest (10-15 mph sustained) Thursday afternoon. Temperatures Thursday could still be in the middle teens, but by Friday we rebound back into the low 20’s for high temperatures. Both days will feature more sun than clouds which will be a nice change from multiple overcast days as of late.
