Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Green Bay, WI
Issued by NWS Green Bay, WI
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273 FXUS63 KGRB 041747 AFDGRB Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Green Bay WI 1147 AM CST Thu Dec 4 2025 Updated aviation portion for 18Z TAF issuance .KEY MESSAGES... - Record or near record cold is expected today with a few locations possibly setting a record low or record low maximum for the date. - There is a 50-80% chance winds will gusts over 30 mph north of Sturgeon Bay in Door County tonight. The highest chances will be near Deaths Door and Washington Island. - There is a 40-80% chance of light snow Friday afternoon and evening. Snowfall amounts around an inch or less are expected. - Below normal temperatures will continue through the weekend with moderating temperatures by the middle of next week, along with periodic chances for snow. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 231 AM CST Thu Dec 4 2025 Short Term...Today...Tonight...and Friday Lake effect snow will come to an end across the far north early this morning, with dry weather expected as high pressure passes to the south. High temperatures under the arctic airmass will be a solid 20 degrees below normal as temperatures only reach 10 to 15 degrees during the afternoon. These cold high temperatures will likely reach or exceed record low maximums for the day (see CLIMATE section below). As the high moves off to the east, some warm air advection will cause increasing clouds tonight as temperatures initially fall this evening, then slowly rise during the overnight hours. The warm air advection may bring some light snow or flurries to far north- central Wisconsin given the modest isentropic lift. A cold front will drop south on Friday across the northern Great Lakes, but stall and remain just to our northwest. However, a mid level shortwave will track across the western Great Lakes on Friday, which will bring the chance for light snow and flurries to the region. The best chance for snow (40-70%) will be Friday afternoon when moisture and lift will coincide with the Dendritic Growth Zone at 600-700mb. Given the meager lift and fairly high DGZ snowfall amounts are only expected to be a few tenths of an inch with some locations possible reaching an inch. High temperatures on Friday are expected to recover into the lower 20s. Long Term...Friday Night Through Wednesday A west-northwest flow at 500mb expected to continue into the middle of December, with several clipper systems moving with the mean flow over the next week, The continuation of below normal temperatures will continue through the weekend with some moderation in the temperatures by the middle of next week, although confidence is low depending on the exact storm track of each clipper system. The whisker plots for highs/lows in the model guidance indicated a large spread beyond Monday to give low confidence in the amount of moderation in temperatures. For Friday night, the first clipper system will exit the area during the evening. Per coordination with the short term forecaster, did bump up snow probabilities Friday evening, while snowfall amounts for the entire system have been bumped up from the previous forecasts. The chances of snow showers will linger through the night across the far north. Tranquil conditions expected Saturday with next clipper system passing south of the area Saturday night into Sunday morning. Model trends over the last day or so has shown this system will impact our southern counties with some light snow. Have modest chances for snow going at the moment at 30-50% generally south of of Highway 29. Attention then turns to a more potentially potent system Monday afternoon and Monday night. The Canadian and ECMWF depict this system, although the track is considerably different while the GFS not showing much of a system. I usually trend to the ECMWF/Canadian solution when the GFS does not match up. However, the difference in the ECMWF/Canadian model solution leads to low confidence in snowfall amounts. However, plenty of time to watch how this will play out in the upcoming days. Latest guidance off the GFS/ECMWF indicated temperatures moderating by the middle of next week. With arctic air across Canada, confidence is low in the amount of moderation in the temperatures depending on the track of each clipper system,. At Green Bay, the box whisker plots were showing a 10 degree spread Tuesday and Wednesday on the max/min temperatures. && .AVIATION...for 18Z TAF Issuance Issued at 1146 AM CST Thu Dec 4 2025 Clear, cold, but good flying conditions are expected for the afternoon to early afternoon period. Some mid to high clouds will arrive through the afternoon but no ceilings are expected until some lower clouds arrive overnight and bring some MVFR ceilings to portions of north-central Wisconsin. As the lower clouds arrive, some light snow will move into the region as well, although this will mainly be limited to north-central Wisconsin during the daytime period. Winds will be on the increase overnight as well, which will spread some LLWS from west to east through the morning period as well. Finally, the next round of light snow does appear to delay towards the afternoon, but a few flurries may make their way into portions of central Wisconsin and areas along the lakeshore by around noon. && .CLIMATE... Issued at 231 AM CST Thu Dec 4 2025 Record or near record cold is expected today with a few locations possibly setting a record low or record low maximum for the date. December 4th (record low/year(s) & record low maximum/year(s)): Antigo (-13/1985 & 8/1991), Appleton (-9/1940 & 14/1929,1942), Green Bay (-8/1977 & 15/1976), Manitowoc (-2/1976 & 13/1976), Marshfield (-16/1919 & 11/1972), Merrill (-23/1919 & 8/1976), Oshkosh (-5/1977,1985 & 11/1991), Rhinelander (-22/1927 & 8/1972), Stevens Point (-11/1902 & 10/1972), Sturgeon Bay (- 1/1940 & 12/1976), Wausau (-7/1991 & 12/1991), Wisconsin Rapids (-18/1940 & 9/1991). && .GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ DISCUSSION.....Kurimski/Eckberg AVIATION.......Uhlmann CLIMATE........Eckberg