Milwaukee's First 80° This Year

It was a warm weekend across the area. Milwaukee hit 80° on Sunday. It was the first 80 degree day of the year and the last time we felt temps that warm in 214 days. The last time we were in the 80s was back on September 29th at 82°. And the warmth is expected to stick around for awhile. Normal high temps are in the low 60s the first part of May, with normal lows in the mid range 40s. Most days this week will feature 60s and 70s for highs with lows in the 40s and 50s. We'll probably make another run at 80° this Thursday as well. The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center also mirrors our above normal temperature trend this week.

But the trade off will be dodging showers, and at times, a few storms. Much of the storm chances will come at night, so that should allow for us to maximize on potential sunshine to heat things up. As it looks now, tonight will hold our next chance for t'showers as a stationary boundary sets up across Illinois. Eventually that boundary works back north as a warm front on Wednesday. During the day while the front drifts north, a few isolated storms could fire. Then, a cold front will sweep through and interact with the warm and humid air Thursday night into Friday. That time frame may pose our best chance for stronger storms.  Beyond that, spotty t'shower chances will continue until Monday of next week. Thereafter we will dry out, but trend a little cooler.  Overall, the month of May has the potential to come in warmer than normal. Here's the latest monthly outlook for May.

Keep a close watch on storm chances this week, and seize the dry times to get out and enjoy the warm temps! As always, the First Alert Weather App is free to download to help keep you ahead of the storms anytime, day or night.

I'm meteorologist Rebecca Schuld