Lots of Melting

 We have had the warmest temperatures in months the past few days and this warmth is forecast to continue through at least the next 7 days. At some point over the next week some cities in our, if not all will reach the upper 40s to near 50. The Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service has forecast average temperatures across eastern Wisconsin for the 8-14 day trend. For reference, average this time of year is the low to middle 40s. 

Shorts and t-shirts have been seen all across the Milwaukee area with the warm air as well as ponds of melting snow. Watch out for a lot of these puddles because it can be deceiving how deep they really are. Also be on the lookout for re-freezing late at night or early in the morning as temperature overnight the next week dip back below freezing. On Saturday the recorded snow depth for Milwaukee was 9\" and as of Sunday afternoon that snow depth is down to 4\" meaning we melted 5\" of snow in just 24 hours. At this rate, there won't be any snow left by the end of the week! 

Obviously this snow melt has a big impact on area rivers, lakes and streams. This time of year ice jams can become a problem where ice clogs a river or stream forcing the water out of it's banks. The latest flood potential outlook by the National Weather Service calls for normal to below normal probabilities for spring flooding. 

The latest Great Lakes ice analysis shows 83.7% of the lakes are covered with ice. At this time last year that coverage was 90.3%.