Soaking rain arrives Thursday evening with a flurry possible this weekend

 

Temperatures on Thursday will be mild again but the biggest change are the clouds. You'll notice a lot more of them today after four straight days of good sunshine. The clouds have formed ahead of our next chance for rain which starts to move in this evening and lasts off and on through the night and into most of Friday.

We will be batting dry air at times so the rain will take breaks but expect scattered showers for about 24 hours once the rain starts. An isolated rumble of thunder will be possible Thursday night into Friday morning. Rain totals will stay between 0.25" to 0.75" but those that see thunderstorms could get up to 1". Although many areas rivers and streams remain high, they should be able to handle the soaking rain.

A cold front will push through during the early afternoon of Friday cooling temperatures very quickly. Highs will likely be in the middle 60s Friday morning and then drop into the 40s by evening with 30s arriving by Saturday morning. As of Thursday morning there are no freeze watches or warnings locally, but a freeze watch has been issued for parts of Iowa and Illinois with winter storm warnings across the Dakotas.

The chance for a freeze for some of our inland communities in southeast Wisconsin is starting to increase. A freeze watch or warning may be issued as early as Thursday afternoon. Some frost may be possible as well so plan on covering your plants or bringing them inside. 

The Dakotas and Montana are expecting the biggest area of snow from this storm with round a foot of snow possible there. Parts of Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin could see their first accumulating snow of the season but most of that stays away from southeast Wisconsin. IF we see any flurries the best chance is north of I-94 from Saturday evening through Sunday morning.

Download the CBS 58 Ready Weather to track the rapid chill with the hour-by-hour forecast and track the rain.