Dangerous cold takes a brief break with two rounds of snow Tuesday night and Wednesday
The cold air has been the big weather story to start the new week heading into Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Wind chills Monday morning dropped between -30 to -20 for most of southeast Wisconsin with lows in the single digits below-zero and wind gusts to 40 mph.
Wind chills Tuesday morning were about ten degrees warmer in most areas thanks to a lighter wind from 5-15 mph but similar air temperatures in the single digits below-zero. Wind chills will finally go above-zero by Tuesday afternoon and stay above-zero all of Wednesday. Another round of cold air will start to filter in for Thursday.
The brief warm up with wind chills is due to a low pressure system arriving bringing with it the chance for accumulating snow. A winter weather advisory has been issued for our southern half of counties from late Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning. This highlights the counties expected to see the heaviest snow totals but if that axis if heavy snow shifts north then more counties could be added.
Snow chances start by 7 PM on Tuesday with better chances for steady light to moderate snow most of the overnight hours. Snow will come to an end during the morning commute with most areas dry by 9 AM Wednesday. This will be a fairly light and fluffy snow that could blow around with a bit of a breeze on Wednesday. The Wednesday morning commute will likely be snow covered and slick.
Snow totals from Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning will be in the 1-3" range for most of southeast Wisconsin with highest totals in our southern counties.
A second round of snow is possible Wednesday evening for a few hours. This could feature some heavy areas of snow potentially lasting a couple hours in spots. Another inch or two of snow will be possible with the second round. That second round could push snow totals in some areas from Tuesday evening up to 5" with northern counties staying closer to the 1-2" range.
Download the CBS 58 Weather app to track the snow and the dangerous cold that follows for the upcoming weekend.