Freeze Warnings in Place, Record Cold Possible

The chill is back. Temperatures on Saturday didn't make it out of the 50s, with the high in Milwaukee coming in at 46°. Not only was it about 20° colder than what it should be this time of year, but we also saw a mix of sleet, snow, graupel and rain showers throughout the day. The good news is that this is the coldest it will likely be for a long time, but the bad news is before we warm up, it will get freezing cold.

A freeze warning has been issued for our northern and western counties including Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Washington, Dodge and Jefferson Counties. All of our other counties (Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Walworth) are under a frost advisory. The warnings and advisories go into effect at midnight Saturday night and last until Sunday morning at 8:00 AM. It will be wise to bring in any plants you can and cover those that you can't, especially if you live in the freeze warning area. 

Temperatures Sunday morning will reach the lower 30s and a few isolated upper 20s are not out of the question. The forecast low in Milwaukee is 34°, but a lot of inland communities will see temps right around the freezing mark.

Sunday morning's temperatures will be cold enough to possibly break some records. The current record for May 15 (Sunday) in Milwaukee for low temperature is 34° which is the current forecast. The 44° is the record for coldest high temperature. Since we will see a little sunshine on Sunday, temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s so we will be well above the record cold high temperature. 

A few weeks ago when we had our first frost advisory of the season I shared the following map with you showing when we typically see our last spring freeze. At the time, at the end of April, we were right on track. But seeing temperatures this cold at this time of May is more typical of Green Bay than Milwaukee.

Here's your light at the end of the tunnel: by the end of the upcoming work week temperatures are back into the 70s!