Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI
Issued by NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI
444 FXUS63 KMKX 202059 AFDMKX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan WI 259 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Stratus clouds and some fog and drizzle continuing into tonight. - Temperatures several degrees above normal this weekend into early next week. - 70-80 percent chance of rain Monday night lingering into Tuesday. Then polar air to gradually arrive by Thanksgiving Day. && .SHORT TERM... Issued 259 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 Tonight through Saturday morning: Swly winds and weak warm advection will likely maintain the stratus clouds and some fog and drizzle this afternoon into tonight. This is occurring well south of cyclogenesis from nrn Ontario into Hudson Bay with its weak, trailing cold front to gradually move across srn WI tnt. Fairly significant subsidence and drying will then take hold toward Fri AM with PWATs dropping to 0.20 inches. Thus expect to lose the stratus sometime during the morning hours. A separate shortwave trough in the srn USA jet stream will then track from the central Great Plains across the Ohio Valley for Fri-Sat. The QG dynamics and overall lift will remain to the south, but broken to overcast high cloud cover could occur over far srn WI on Fri. Otherwise a weak sfc ridge will prevail over srn WI with mostly clear to partly cloudy skies north of the high cloud cover into Sat AM. Temps will remain several degrees above normal. Gehring && .LONG TERM... Issued 259 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 Saturday afternoon through Thanksgiving Day: For Saturday afternoon and Sunday a Canadian shortwave trough in nwly flow aloft will track from the nrn Great Lakes to the lower Great Lakes. At the surface, a trough/cold front will approach Sat afternoon with swly winds and warm advection ensuing. A band of cloud cover will occur with the QG lift but no precipitation is expected at this time. The weak cold front will then pass late Sat nt. High pressure will then follow for Sun afternoon and night. Relatively mild temps will continue for the weekend. Clouds will increase Monday with rain becoming widespread Mon nt as a shortwave trough tracks from the central or srn high plains toward IL and srn WI. This shortwave trough will shear out as it approaches due to a more dominant upper wave approaching the Upper MS River Valley in the nrn jet stream. Nevertheless, warm, moist advection and PVA will bring rain to the region. A sfc low associated with the dominant upper wave will then track across nrn WI or just north of Lake Superior on Tue with its polar cold front to arrive over srn WI Tue afternoon. The cold advection will initially be gradual but increase into Wed and Thanksgiving Day as the low moves into Quebec. Temps will fall below normal by Thanksgiving Day. Gehring && .AVIATION... Issued 259 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 MVFR Cigs will continue along the counties adjacent to Lake MI this afternoon and tnt but areas of Cigs below 1 kft and drizzle are possible. For the remainder of srn WI, Cigs will mostly remain under 1 kft with pockets of fog and drizzle, with clearing around or after sunrise on Fri. VFR conditions to then prevail for the remainder of Fri. Gehring && .MARINE... Issued 259 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 A weak cold front over the Upper Mississippi River Valley this afternoon will slowly move across Lake Michigan tonight. Modest southwest winds will shift northwesterly and continue through Friday. Light to modest north winds Friday night will become light and variable Saturday morning when high pressure moves across the region. Winds will become southwesterly again Saturday afternoon and evening, then westerly late Saturday night and Sunday with the passage of another weak Canadian cold front. Gehring && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. LM...None. && $$ Visit us at weather.gov/milwaukee Follow us on Facebook, X, and YouTube at: www.facebook.com/NWSMilwaukee www.x.com/NWSMilwaukee www.youtube.com/NWSMilwaukee