Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS La Crosse, WI
Issued by NWS La Crosse, WI
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206 FXUS63 KARX 181942 AFDARX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 142 PM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Low chance (10 to 25%) for rain showers midweek, otherwise mostly dry into early next week. - Near normal temperatures for today and Wednesday, then a slight warmup through early next week with highs generally in the upper 40s to low 50s. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 142 PM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 Today-Tuesday: Near Normal or Slightly Above Normal Temperatures, Mostly Dry with Some Low Precipitation Chances (15 to 20%) This Week: The main band of rain/snow continues to dwindle as an upper level low continues to make its way across southern Wisconsin. For our forecast area, the majority of snow fell in Clark County as the main band of snow stretched between Highway 10 and Highway 29. In the wake of this low leaving the area, shortwave ridging moves in but quickly flattens and the pattern shifts to a more zonal flow for Wednesday. A surface high also moves over the area for tonight through Wednesday evening. Little ripples work through the zonal flow however, precipitation chances are not much, up to 10%. With the low clouds hanging around through Wednesday though, light rain or drizzle will be possible as there will be deep enough saturation and enough lift for this to occur. There is also a signal that areas that clear up enough tonight into Wednesday morning, could fog over. This is something will we watch as we end into the overnight period. Heading into Wednesday night and Thursday, two systems move across the central CONUS with one dipping down into the Upper Midwest and another coming up from the southern Plains. The latter system continues to be off to our south and is not expected to impact our forecast area. The majority of the precipitation is now located in Iowa into central Illinois. The first system mentioned will be the one to watch to see if portions of Wisconsin get some light rain showers. There are still some differences in how far south this wave gets into the Upper Midwest and how strong this trough is. Currently there a wave is expected to move down through Wisconsin and bring a little moisture transport with it, allowing for light rain showers to kick off. With how low the moisture transport is, there is not a high confidence on if and where the showers occurs. Have therefore kept the NBM precipitation chances of 15 to 25% for areas along and north of I-94. After Thursday, zonal flow/slight northwest flow returns for the weekend. Most of the weekend is expected to be dry, however there is a low chance at some showers Saturday night into Sunday as a trough dips close enough to the Upper Midwest. Ensemble and deterministic guidance then favor ridging over the area for Monday and Tuesday with some increased precipitation chances late Tuesday into Wednesday. As far as temperatures for the forecast period go, they start out near normal for Wednesday, then increase to 5 to 10 degrees above normal with highs mostly in the mid to upper 40s to the low 50s. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1151 AM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 The band of rain/snow mainly along and north of I-94 has been dissipating this morning and will continue to do so as it shifts eastward over the next few hours, exiting the region fully after 21z. IFR/LIFR ceilings then linger across the region through the TAF period. Mist also lingers for portions of the area through the overnight hours given saturated low levels in RAP/HRRR soundings with visibility reductions to around 2SM. Overnight, some drier air sinks southward into north-central Wisconsin resulting in some partial clearing across these areas. This leads to some fog concern overnight, with the 18.12z HREF highlighting 30-60% probabilities for visibilities of less than 1SM. Otherwise, east-northeast winds continue this afternoon, becoming light and variable overnight, shifting to the southeast for Wednesday. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Cecava AVIATION...Falkinham