Temperatures will warm into the upper 40s for the weekend with the morning lows near 30 both Saturday and Sunday and mostly to partly sunny skies. That’s a great forecast for this time of the year unless you’re a deer hunter and you want tracking snow.  All indications are that we won’t see snow for the next 7 days.  In Green Bay we have yet to see measurable snow (at least 0.1″) this season. The average date for the first measurable snowfall is today, November 13th.

Speaking of November 13th, it was 3 years ago today that I had to leave Good Day Wisconsin early to take my wife to the hospital.  A few hours later our 3rd child Georgia Anne was born.  Happy Birthday Georgia!  Below is a picture of  her from Saturday when we celebrated her birthday…when she got all her gifts.  Although yesterday she turned to me when she saw something on TV she wanted and said, “Dada, I want that on my real birthday.”  To which I replied, “maybe Santa will bring you that.”

It’s about 30° colder today than yesterday with flurries and snow showers expected so it is a perfect day to unveil the winter storm names for 2012/13.  The first name was a boy’s name (Alan) since we started with a girl’s name last year (Angela).

In case you’re wondering who picks the names…that would be me.  I run it by my boss but I put the first list out there and sometimes we tweak it a bit.  I try to use popular names from different decades (the social security list of names comes in handy)  so that all generations get a chance to have a storm named after them.  For instance Alan was popular in the 60s and Denise in the 70s; Brianna in the 2000s.  I’ve also heard from a number of people who would like to have a continuation of names into the next year so that we would see some winter storms that start with  the letter “P” or “S”.  I may have to consider that next year because I admit, it is getting a bit lean for different names at the beginning of the alphabet.  Below you’ll find the names and the factors the FOX 11 meteorologists use to determine if a storm should get a name.

Don’t forget to tune in Wednesday during the FOX 11 News at 5 for Patrick Powell’s winter weather forecast.  Long range forecasting like this is very difficult and Patrick uses every bit of his expertise and skill to come up with an idea of what the season will look like in both temperature and snowfall.

Enjoy the warm weather today because the cooler air is pushing in overnight.  A cold front will push through the state this afternoon but we’ll still be on the warm side so expect highs near 82°.  (Normal high is 72°)  Rain will develop overnight and we’ll see periods of rain Thursday with a high of only 65°!  If you’re heading to the Packers-Bears game tomorrow evening, there will still be a 30% chance of showers with a kickoff temperature of 58° and north winds at 5-10 mph.  We’ve seen a very warm Spring and Summer, check out the highlights on our timeline.

Enjoy the warm, sunny conditions today and tomorrow because as Sam Cooke sang, “A Change is Gonna Come.”  Breezy southwest winds today will usher in high temperatures in the 80s and we’ll continue to see unseasonable warmth Wednesday ahead of an approaching cold front. (The normal high for this time of year is 72°) The front will impact us Thursday as highs only reach 66° with periods of rain.  The cool down will last through the rest of the work week but right now it’s looking better for the weekend.  Bring your official NFL Licensed Green Bay Packer Poncho to the game on Thursday against the Bears, you may need it.

We may see some patchy fog this morning, otherwise it’s shaping up to be a warmer, beautiful day with lots of sunshine. An area of high pressure will influence our weather the next few day.  The center of that system will be right over the state today which not only means sunshine but also light winds (west at about 5 mph).  The next best chance of rain and thunderstorms is on Friday.  Have a great day

We’re drying out today after a very wet Thursday.  Rainfall totals of between 1 and 2 inches was commonplace in the area.  Today we deal with strong north and northeast winds at 15 to 25 mph so hold on to your hats!  The weekend is improving with lots of sunshine and highs in the upper 70s.

As expected we are getting  rain this morning and although we’ll see a break from it for a time, we’ll likely see more this afternoon, probably after 2 pm in Green Bay and the Fox Cities.   Most of the rain so far this morning has fallen from Green Bay and areas south.  By 10 am Waupaca has already seen almost 2″ of rain.  Keep the umbrella handy!  Our high will only reach 65° which will be the coolest since June 1st!  After today, high pressure will start to build bringing lots of sunshine for the weekend.

It’s looking good for Packers Family Night with the high near 82° and mostly to partly sunny skies.  The temperature at the time of the fireworks display at 9:45 will be near 73°.  Tomorrow could be stormy but right now it looks like most of the daytime hours will be partly sunny with the best chance for strong or severe thunderstorms to  rumble through late in the afternoon and into the overnight hours.  The primary threat with these storms will be damaging wind and large hail.  Make sure to tune in to Doug Higgins on Good Day Wisconsin Saturday morning and Phil DeCastro on FOX 11 News at Nine for the latest. Have a great day!

We start August much the same way we ended July…warmer than normal.  The data is in and July 2012 in Green Bay was the third warmest month on record.  It also set a record for most 90 degree days at 14.  So far this summer we’ve seen 23- 90° or hotter days but there’s still plenty of opportunity for more this month.  It was a wet month for the Green Bay area although in the southern part of our viewing area (Green Lake county for instance) drought conditions persist.  We’ll see some thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow with possible strong or severe storms in the northwestern portion of our area tonight but things look good right now for  Packers Family Night on Friday with a high near 82°.   Have a great day!

Wow what a difference 10 days makes!  In the middle of the month we were keeping track in the weather office of driest Julys in Green Bay thinking we were headed for a record-breaker.  Just 10 days later we are more than 2.5″ above normal for the month.  That really helps the drought around here.  Unfortunately that hasn’t been the situation in all of the viewing area.  Even though there has been at least a little rain to the south, it’s still not nearly enough for Green Lake and parts of Winnebago county.  Check out the before and after pictures Director Greg Bins took of the Eureka lock.  Overflowing in May but sitting low now.  Rain will end this afternoon and it should be a dry and beautiful weekend. ..beautiful that is for those who got the rain.  It’s all relative isn’t it.