Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Green Bay, WI
Issued by NWS Green Bay, WI
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
360 FXUS63 KGRB 132306 AFDGRB Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Green Bay WI 506 PM CST Sat Dec 13 2025 Updated aviation portion for 00Z TAF issuance .KEY MESSAGES... - Bitterly cold arctic air with wind chills as low as 20 to 30 degrees below zero will remain dangerous through Sunday morning for most areas. A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect for all of northern and central Wisconsin (except Door County). - A warming trend develops Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a potent system that brings the potential for a wintry mix, rain, fog, and strong winds Wednesday night into Thursday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 218 PM CST Sat Dec 13 2025 The latest RAP analysis shows low pressure spinning north of Lake Superior while arctic high pressure is building southeast from the northern Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley. Scattered cumulus clouds developed near the U.P. border around midday, but otherwise, skies have been mostly clear across the region so far today. Lake effect snow showers and clouds streets have mostly remained north of the U.P. border so far today. Scattered clouds are pushing south across northern Minnesota and northwest Ontario, but high relative humidity profiles in model soundings suggest there should be more clouds than are currently present. Have therefore lowered cloud cover for the rest of the afternoon. Current wind chills early this afternoon range from 15 below to 25 below zero. Focus of this forecast remains on the bitter cold wind chills and subsequent cold weather headlines. Bitter Cold Temperatures and Wind Chills: Arctic high pressure will gradually slide south across the northern Mississippi Valley tonight. On the eastern flank of this arctic high, the core of the arctic airmass will drop southeast across Wisconsin tonight. Low level wind trajectories will gradually be veering, which is supportive of lake clouds and light snow showers pushing south from the western U.P. and into far northern WI. There is low confidence in how quickly this occurs and how far south the clouds reach. Considering the bias of model RH fields in arctic airmasses, errored on the lower coverage side. This impacts temperatures and wind chills, and consequently, lowered min temps and wind chills across far northern WI. This puts all of northern Wisconsin (except for Door County) into Cold Weather Advisory criteria (20 below to 30 below) into the evening. Guidance insists on rising temps overnight and can see parts of the Cold Weather Advisory cancelled prior to expiration (6 am for the north). Over central WI, minimum wind chills of 30 below to 35 below are expected, which falls just shy of Extreme Cold Warning criteria. Temperatures should warm quicker on Sunday morning than this morning with wind chills rising above advisory criteria in the 9-10 am timeframe across central and east-central WI. Otherwise, expect mostly sunny skies with highs ranging from the middle single digits over central WI to the upper teens over far northeast WI. High pressure shifting east across the Ohio Valley will promote return flow developing on Sunday night. Southwest winds will become breezy which will maintain low wind chills generally 5 below to 15 below zero. Shouldnt see much fall in temperatures while statistical guidance actually shows surface temps undergoing a slow warming trend at some locations. Light Wintry Precipitation Late Sunday Thru Tuesday: Guidance continues to show weak clipper energy producing light snow after midnight on Sunday night into early Monday morning over far northeast WI. Chances reach up to 40% near the U.P. border. Perhaps up to one half inch of snow will be possible. Light snow from additional clipper systems look to remain north of the area on Tuesday and Tuesday night. Mid-Week System and Warming Trend: Then will be monitoring a potential fast moving and potent cyclone crossing Lake Superior on Wednesday night into Thursday. This system has trended stronger over the past 48 hours of ensemble runs. Critical thickness values are projected to lift north of the Upper Peninsula border by Wednesday evening. Probability of 850mb temps reaching above freezing range from 60-90%. Surface dewpoints are expected to rise above freezing over the southern parts of the area on Wednesday night. Probabilities range from 60-80%. Therefore a wintry mix looks possible on Wednesday night. Liquid precip will have potential to freeze after sunset as the ground will be very cold. Dense fog will also have potential to develop over the southern parts of the area. Behind the system, colder air will return, but there is quite a large spread in regards to how cold the airmass will be. There is higher confidence of windy weather on Thursday in the cold advection part of the cyclone. 925mb winds are currently in the 90-95th percentile. Light snow and minor accumulations will also be possible region wide. Another system could impact the region late Friday into Saturday. By Tuesday, there is a greater than 80% chance that highs will top 32F across the entire forecast area. Global ensembles favor these more moderate temperatures sticking around into Thursday. && .AVIATION...for 00Z TAF Issuance Issued at 506 PM CST Sat Dec 13 2025 Mainly VFR conditions through the TAF period thanks to a bitterly cold arctic airmass across the region. Light snow showers will be possible at times over northern Vilas and Door Counties that could produce MVFR ceilings and brief IFR to MVFR visibilities. In general, trended more optimistic with ceilings tonight due to the dry arctic airmass. W-NW winds of 10-15 knots with gusts of 20-25 knots will occur at times through the weekend. Low level wind shear will be possible late tonight into Sunday morning over parts of north-central and northeast WI that may impact RHI and GRB. && .GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Cold Weather Advisory until 6 AM CST Sunday for WIZ005-010>013- 021-073-074. Cold Weather Advisory until 10 AM CST Sunday for WIZ018>020-030- 031-035>040-045-048>050. && $$ DISCUSSION.....MPC AVIATION.......Kurimski