Wind chills forecast to be below zero for Christmas, day before
The coldest air this winter will arrive across Wisconsin for the Christmas holiday, with wind chills well below zero by Friday morning, forecasters say.
The frigid air is set to move in on Wednesday.
“An Arctic cold front will sweep through southern Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon and night,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. “The coldest air of the season will arrive for Christmas. Wind chills are expected to fall to 10 to 18 degrees below zero Christmas Eve and Christmas Day morning.”
Before the cold air arrives, we will need to get past a storm system that will bring a mess of rain, maybe freezing rain and maybe light snow on Wednesday into Wednesday night.
For Milwaukee on Wednesday, forecasters are calling for rain, mainly after 1 p.m., and a high near 46 with a breezy south wind gusting to 30 mph.
By Wednesday night, the bottom drops out on temperatures and the forecast says there is the potential for rain, snow or freezing rain with a low around 13 and a west wind gusting to 30 mph.
There is “little or no” snow or ice accumulation expected in southern Wisconsin, but “temperatures are expected to quickly fall below freezing Wednesday afternoon and evening,” the weather service said in a statement. “This may result in wet roadways quickly freezing, causing slippery spots and stretches.”
Forecasters expect “little to no changeover to snow,” in southern Wisconsin, according to a statement early Tuesday from the weather service.
To the north, forecasters say the rain could change over to snow in some areas on Wednesday, possibly with light accumulations.
“Very slippery road conditions are possible, especially Wednesday night into early Thursday, due to snow and rapidly falling temperatures,” the weather service office in Green Bay said in a statement. “Even in locations where minor snow is expected, the moisture on the roads could quickly freeze and create black ice.”
Far northwest Wisconsin could see heavy snow this week. A winter storm watch has been issued for Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning for Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Burnett, Washburn, Sawyer and Price counties.
“Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (are) possible, with locally higher amounts along the higher terrain of Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland and Iron counties,” the weather service said in a statement early Tuesday. Then the deep freeze arrives. Across southern Wisconsin, “Temperatures Thursday morning will be in the single digits to teens with wind chills below zero,” the weather service said. “Highs Thursday will be in the teens with wind chills remaining at or below zero.”
On Thursday night into Friday morning, wind chills are expected to be even colder at minus 10 to minus 15 degrees.
Sunshine will help warm us up a little bit on Friday, “but wind chills will only be in the single digits,” the weather service said.
The high temperature on Thursday in Milwaukee is forecast to be near 18 with a northwest wind gusting to 25 mph. The low temperature on Thursday in Milwaukee is forecast to be 6 degrees.
Friday, the high is forecast to be 20 in Milwaukee.
It will be colder in northern and central Wisconsin.
“Wind chills on Christmas Eve are expected to fall well below zero and may approach 20 below zero by Christmas morning at some spots in central and north-central Wisconsin,” the weather service said.
On Thursday, the high temperature in Wausau is forecast to be 7 degrees with a low of minus 3. Marshfield is looking at a high temperature of 6 and a low of minus 4 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, there is some good news. Monday was the winter solstice and the shortest day and longest night of the year. We start gaining daylight (although it will be barely noticeable) on Tuesday.
“Each day will get a little longer until June 20th,” the weather service said in a statement.