Heavy rain and near record high temperatures for Thursday

Thursday morning is starting out dry as clouds roll back in from the west. Enjoy any sunshine you see in the early morning hours before the clouds thicken back up. It has been a bit of a wet start to the year with a soaking rain earlier in the week and some light snow last week. We are currently running just a bit above average for the year and just under a half inch of total precipitation so far. 

Another round of soaking rain looks likely for the afternoon and evening hours. Rain showers could start as early as 1 PM with steady rain from 3 PM to 9 PM. Few more light showers may be possible for the rest of Thursday night into Friday morning. Some snowflakes may also mix in with the rain showers Friday morning. 

Rain totals looking heavy, especially for January standards, with a quarter to three-quarters inch of rain possible in many locations in the afternoon and evening hours. With all of that rain on top of the soaking rain we had earlier in the week combined with a frozen ground and a lot of storm drains covered with leaves, we could definitely see some minor street flooding or ponding of water on area roadways. 

In addition to the steady rain expected for Thursday, a warm front will lift north into southern Wisconsin. This warm front has the potential to bring near record temperatures with it. We are already starting off Thursday very mild around 40. Temps will warm to the upper 40s to around 50 in the early afternoon hours then may drop slightly for the evening with the steady rain. Our highs for the day could happen late in the evening when we may reach the low 50s. The record high for today is 57 set back in 1965 but with a forecast high of 53 we could come close to tying or breaking the record. 

Download the CBS 58 Weather app to track the heavy rain with the interactive radar and see how warm we get.