Freezing rain, snow expected to bring icy roads Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning in Milwaukee
According to the National Weather Service forecast, flurries or light snow could begin around 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Milwaukee. However, peak precipitation is expected to fall in the evening hours through early Thursday morning.
"We're going to emphasize that this (freezing drizzle) is going to be rather light for the Milwaukee area," said Milwaukee-Sullivan NWS meteorologist JJ Wood. "It's going to be mainly this evening, starting about 7 or 8 p.m., going until maybe 2 or 3 a.m. It then should be tapered off completely between about 3 and 5 a.m."
The Milwaukee area will mainly see freezing drizzle with "a little light snow mixed in at times," he continued. Wood said area residents should expect up to "a couple of hundredths of an inch" of ice accumulation and "maybe a tenth of an inch of snow."
This could create slick and icy driving conditions, especially on untreated roads and elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses into the early Thursday morning commute. Wood said these conditions should no longer pose a threat by mid-day Thursday as temperatures warm to the upper 30s.
High winds are expected Thursday afternoon and evening. In Milwaukee, Wood said sustained winds between 25 and 30 mph with gusts up to 40 or 45 mph are possible.
Greater snow and ice accumulations are possible with this system in other areas of the state. Central Wisconsin should see "steadier light snow" while the northern portion of the state could see moderate snow totals, Wood said.
"In the northern half of the state, you could see anywhere from 1 to maybe 3 inches. In the far northwest part, it's more like 3 to 4 inches," he continued.
NWS provides these safety tips for those driving during freezing drizzle conditions:
Slow down
Don't use cruise control
Leave plenty of distance between you and other vehicles
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Freezing rain to bring slick road conditions Wednesday in Milwaukee
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
31 minutes ago
Parents of kids swept away in Texas floods beg lawmakers to protect future campers
When floodwaters rushed through a girl's summer camp nestled in the Texas Hill Country, Michael McCown's 8-year-old daughter was among 27 campers and counselors swept to their deaths. On Wednesday, McCown joined other Camp Mystic parents, some wearing buttons memorializing 'Heaven's 27,' in demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety, including generally keeping cabins out of flood plains, instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios. 'It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,' he said. "Please pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain.' McCown's middle child, Linnie, was sandwiched between two brothers. She was sometimes a pest to her 11-year-old brother. But to the youngest, just 3, she was mother figure, making him cereal on weekends so her parents could catch a few minutes of sleep. 'To everyone else she was a joy," her father told lawmakers. "She hugged her teachers, was a friend to everybody and spread an infectious giggle everywhere she went.' Then came the floods. Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. All told, at least 136 people died, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. County leaders were asleep or out of town. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it's now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesperson for camp's operators said in the immediate aftermath. Some of the camp's buildings — which flooded — were in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency considered a 100-year flood plain. But in response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area. Upon learning of the flooding, McCown rushed to the town of Kerrville to pick up Linnie, receiving an email en route that if parents hadn't been personally contacted, then their daughters are accounted for. 'I felt a wave of relief, which was quickly shattered about 30 minutes later when my wife called incredibly distraught to say that Linnie is missing,' he recalled. He joined the search downstream from the camp and found the body of a deceased girl. He also made two trips to a funeral home to identify bodies. One was not Linnie; the other, he believed, was. He later provided authorities with a DNA swab. He's haunted by questions. 'How," he asked, "could these girls vanish into the night without anyone having eyes on them while cabins literally just 20 yards away had no casualties? So what went wrong?' Cici Williams Steward said assurances that her daughter, Cile Steward, would be safe were betrayed and protocols that should have been in place were ignored. Today, the body of the 8-year-old 'remains somewhere in the devastation of the Guadalupe River,' the only Camp Mystic camper still missing. 'We are suspended in endless anguish, unable to move forward, unable to find peace," a tearful Steward said. "We ask you, please pass SB1 so no parent sends their child to camp believing they are safe only to face this nightmare. And just as urgently, please do not stop the search for Cile Steward. Please do not give up on our girl.' Texas State Sen. Charles Perry described the proposed legislation as a 'legacy to the loss' and an answer to what has been learned during hours of public testimony. He said it's dubbed the 'Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act.' 'It's only appropriate," Perry said, "to memorialize the 27 little girls that lost their lives at Camp Mystic in this way.'
Axios
37 minutes ago
- Axios
Hurricane Erin threatens N.C. with tropical storm conditions
"Large" Hurricane Erin's storm surge began threatening the North Carolina Outer Banks on Wednesday, prompting officials to close a section of Highway 12. The big picture: The National Hurricane Center warned U.S. East Coast beachgoers on Wednesday against swimming at most beaches due to "life-threatening surf and currents," while the N.C. Outer banks was also under threat from "life-threatening" surge flooding and tropical conditions. Many East Coast beaches have already closed in preparation for the storm and N.C. is under a state of emergency. Evacuation orders were in effect for Dare and Hyde counties. Threat level: A storm surge warning was in effect for Cape Lookout to Duck, N.C., and a tropical storm warning was in effect for North Carolina's Beaufort Inlet to Chincoteague, Virginia, including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds. While the now-Category 2 hurricane was not forecast to make landfall in the U.S., forecasters warn much of the East Coast is under threat from the large storm's hurricane-force winds, which the NHC noted in a 5pm Wednesday ET advisory extended outward up to 105 miles from the center. Its tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 265 miles. Areas facing the dangerous conditions include beaches of the Bahamas, much of the East Coast, Bermuda and Atlantic Canada, and tropical storm conditions are expected Thursday on the Virginia coast, according to the NHC. Coastal flood warnings were in effect for the Atlantic coast of Maryland, Virginia, Nebraska and N.C., and along the bay south of the York River, the National Weather Service's Wakefield, Virginia, office said on X Wednesday evening. "Also, Wind Advisories have been issued for Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Pasquotank/Camden NE NC." What they're saying: Erin had maximum sustained winds of about 110 mph, with outer rain bands moving just offshore of the coast of N.C., NHC director Mike Brennan said just after 5pm Wednesday ET That's "where conditions are going to quickly deteriorate as we go through the next several hours and into the overnight," he said. "Just a reminder though, that we have this broad risk of dangerous surf and rip current conditions along the entire U.S. coast because of the large size of Erin," Brennan said, adding it's not going to be safe to be at beaches through the week. State of play: Hurricane Erin has fluctuated in size since peaking as a Category 5 storm on Saturday. "Some strengthening is possible during the next day or so, and Erin could become a major hurricane again by tonight," the NHC noted in its 5pm forecast discussion, when the storm was some 295miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. "Weakening is likely to begin by Friday, but Erin is forecast to remain a hurricane into the weekend." Between the lines: Research shows that climate change is increasing hurricane wind speeds, and Hurricane Erin's rapid intensification over unusually warm waters — conditions data show are up to 100 times more likely because of climate change — illustrates this effect.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Parents of kids swept away in Texas floods beg lawmakers to protect future campers
When floodwaters rushed through a girl's summer camp nestled in the Texas Hill County, Michael McCown's 8-year-old daughter was among 27 campers and counselors swept to their deaths. On Wednesday, McCown joined other Camp Mystic parents, some wearing buttons memorializing 'Heaven's 27,' in demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety, including generally keeping cabins out of floodplains, instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios. 'It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,' he said. "Please pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain.' His middle child, Linnie, was sandwiched between two brothers. She was sometimes a pest to her 11-year-old brother. But to the youngest, just 3, she was mother figure, making him cereal on weekends so her parents could catch a few minutes of sleep. 'To everyone else she was a joy," her father told lawmakers. "She hugged her teachers, was a friend to everybody, and spread an infectious giggle everywhere she went.' Then came the floods. Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. All told, at least 136 people died, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. County leaders were asleep and out of town. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it's now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesman for camp's operators said in the immediate aftermath. Some of the camp's buildings — which flooded — were in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency considered a 100-year flood plain. But in response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area. Upon learning of the flooding, McCown rushed to the town of Kerrville to pick up Linnie, receiving an email en route that if parents hadn't been personally contacted, then their daughters are accounted for. 'I felt a wave of relief, which was quickly shattered about 30 minutes later when my wife called incredibly distraught to say that Linnie is missing,' he recalled. He joined the search downstream from the camp and found the body of a deceased girl. He also made two trips to a funeral home to identify bodies. One was not Linnie; the other, he believed, was. He later provided authorities with a DNA swab. 'How," he asked, "could these girls vanish into the night without anyone having eyes on them while cabins literally just 20 yards away had no casualties? So what went wrong?' Texas State Sen. Charles Perry described the proposed legislation as a 'legacy to the loss' and an answer to what has been learned during hours of public testimony. He said it's dubbed the 'Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act.' 'It's only appropriate," Perry said, "to memorialize the 27 little girls that lost their lives at Camp Mystic in this way.'
