Early Evening Update: Severe storms are moving into southeastern Wisconsin. The tornado watch has been extended.
Updated: Saturday, June 22nd 6:50pm:
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for western Dodge and Jefferson counties for 60 mph winds and the potential for quarter to ping ball hail.
The tornado watch has been extended further east to include areas along the lakefront. Fond du lac and Sheboygan counties are not included.
Over the next several hours plan on strong to severe storms capable of flooding, hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes. Areas that have already picked up several inches of rain are the most susceptible for flooding.
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Updated: Saturday, June 22nd 5:40pm:
Showers and storms are ongoing well north of Milwaukee, but the main event is starting to ramp up in SW WI. There are several severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in effect as of 5:50 pm.
These storms are tracking east and will move through SE WI between 7-10pm. We are expecting additional storms to fire within these clusters of storms as well.
Storms are also producing torrential rainfall. Damaging winds and flash flooding are the main concerns in SE WI this evening, but we can't rule out an isolated tornado either. Stay tuned.
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Updated: Saturday, June 22nd 2:30pm:
Rounds of showers have been fairly persistent early this afternoon with another round of rain tracking south of I-94.
Additional storms are beginning to fire back to the west and will become more numerous over the next few hours as the low tracks farther east.
Training storms will produce localized flash flooding this evening along with damaging winds. Currently thinking the ongoing rain south of I-94 will lower our tornado threat a tad but won't completely kill it.
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Updated: Saturday, June 22nd 11:45am:
Round two of rain is currently pushing through southeast Wisconsin and will exit by 1pm.
There is one additional batch of showers and embedded thunder near Dubuque. Its current track keeps it along the WI/IL border.
We'll be keeping a close eye on satellite and radar this afternoon as the warm front is firmly sitting across our northern counties with nearly all of southern WI experiencing tropical dew points in the low 70s. Any sunshine this afternoon and temps will skyrocket into the mid to upper 80s.
Recent trends point towards individual storms developing near or north of I-94 along the warm front between 3-5pm. These cells will pose a tornado risk and track over the same locations - creating a flash flood risk.
These cells will congeal into a line this evening with the tornado threat transitioning to a damaging wind threat. Flash flooding risk will continue through the evening given the 1-2"/hr rainfall rates in any given storm.
Level 2, Slight Risk, remains in place for most of SE WI, but was trimmed back a bit in Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties.
Download the CBS 58 Ready Weather App to get updates sent to your phone.
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The first round of storms moved through early this morning with torrential rainfall. Most of these are exiting the area with dry weather for a couple of hours.
The next round of rain isn't far behind, though. It's already moving into SW WI and will track across SE WI between 9am-noon.
The biggest question mark today is whether or not scattered storms will develop this afternoon. This will impact how intense the evening squall line will be.
If we don't have afternoon storms, temps will skyrocket into the mid 80s to low 90s with humidity rising back to tropical levels.
This would create a prime environment for an intense squall line between 6-10pm.
If we do get afternoon storms, it may push the most intense part of the squall line into northern Illinois. That being said, we're still expecting this line of storms regardless.
Damaging straight-line winds, embedded tornadoes, hail, and flash flooding are all concerns today. A Level 2 of 5, Slight Risk, is in place for all of SE WI for the evening round of storms.
Any storms that fire today will produce 1-2" per hour rainfall rates. An additional 1-3" of rain is expected area-wide today with localized 3-5" totals not out of the question.
With the additional rain on the way on top of what's already fallen, MMSD has issued a Water Drop Alert for the MKE metro through the rest of today. Reduce your water usage to help prevent basement backups and sewer overflows.
A Flood Watch continues for most of SE WI through midnight tonight.
Download the CBS 58 Ready Weather App for the latest updates.