Flood advisory issued for areas along Lake Michigan
Strong north to northeast winds combined with record high water on Lake Michigan have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a lakeshore flood advisory through Tuesday afternoon.
The advisory covers shoreline areas along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.
North to northeast winds are forecast to blow at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. That could whip up waves of 6 to 9 feet on Lake Michigan on Monday night and much of Tuesday, the weather service said in a statement.
“Due to the high Lake Michigan water levels, localized flooding of beaches and roads is possible near the lakeshore,” according to the statement. “The high waves may cause erosion along Lake Michigan.”
The combination of high winds and high water on Lake Michigan has caused damage this winter up and down the lakeshore in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Friday declared a state of emergency for Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties because of damage caused in January by high winds from a powerful winter storm that sent Lake Michigan crashing onto shoreline areas in the counties.
At the end of January, Lake Michigan was 3 feet above its long-term average level.
“We should see waves start to really pick up after midnight,” on Monday and continue into Tuesday, said Andy Boxell, a meteorologist at the weather service office in Sullivan. “Anywhere from Milwaukee south through the Chicago area will have some higher waves through Tuesday afternoon.”
Forecasters do not expect the winds to be as intense as they were in midJanuary, Boxell said.
Those north-northeast winds will bring colder air to the region overnight.
Tuesday will see a high temperature in Milwaukee of about 30 degrees, Boxell said.
“It will be blustery . ... It’s those winds that are going to cause the higher waves along the lakeshore,” Boxell said.
Snow possible midweek
There’s a chance of snow Wednesday night into Thursday, with light accumulations possible across southeast Wisconsin, Boxell said.
As of Monday afternoon, forecasters were expecting light snow to fall southeast of a line from Madison to Sheboygan, but that could change.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty with the exact track of the (storm) system,” Boxell said. “For now, there are chances for light snow, but there is certainly lots of time for those details to be refined over the next couple of days.”
That has been the pattern so far this winter.
“We’ve had a lot of storms move from the southwest to the northeast, and just a slight change in direction/exact track really makes huge impacts on where exactly the snow falls and what form the precipitation is in, whether rain or snow,” Boxell said.
There is also a slight chance for some freezing drizzle overnight Monday into Tuesday.
“We can’t rule out a couple slick spots,” but with warm temperatures and sun the past couple of days, most roads will likely be warm enough that no slick spots will occur, Boxell said.