It’s unseasonably mild today with high temperatures in the mid 40s, that’s 20 degrees above normal! (BTW the record high in Green Bay today is 51° and in Appleton it’s 49°) Incredibly the warmer air filtered in last evening when the temperature in Green Bay went from 36° at 6pm to 42° at 9pm.  A cold front is pushing through the state today and temperatures will drop to the mid 30s for the weekend which is still about 10° above normal.  If you’re looking for snow you will have to go northwest.  In Rhinelander there’s 5″ of snow on the ground but some is melting today.  The next best chance for any snow will be Thursday of next week but it doesn’t look like much.  Right now the forecast for the Packers playoff game a week from Sunday looks pretty good with a high near 24 and partly cloudy skies but that’s a long way off.  We’ll continue to update that all important forecast.

After waking up to the coldest temperature of the season yesterday, things are really warming up today and through the rest of the week.  First off the wind chill is a much different story this morning.  They were all below zero at this time yesterday but a big improvement today.  Expect sunshine with a few clouds and a high near 32° (Normal high is 25°).  High temperatures tomorrow will be in the mid 30s and on Friday we’ll see a high near 40°.  There’s no sign of any accumulating snow for the next 7 days and even the longer range computer models aren’t hinting at a major snowfall for the next couple of weeks. 

Temperatures plunged to the single-digits overnight and with a bit of wind, wind chills were below zero.  The low in Green Bay and Oshkosh was 5°; Appleton had 3° and Clintonville saw zero.  This is the coldest morning since way back in March of last year but the good news is that it won’t last.  A warming trend will take hold and highs will reach 40° by Friday!  We’re not the only ones dealing with the cold, Arctic air is impacting the southern United States including Florida where freeze warnings are out for tonight into Wednesday morning for most of the state. 

It was a very warm December, in fact it cracked the Top Ten of warmest Decembers on record in Green Bay.  The average monthly temperature for December 2011 was 29.1° which is 7.6° above normal.  This ranks 10th in warmest Decembers.  Taking a look at the list will show that 3 of the top 10 were in the last decade.  It was not as snowy as usual either with only 2.9″ of snow which ranks as the 15th least snowiest December. 

Winter Begins tonight at 11:30 our time but temperatures will not be winter-like.  In fact it will be above normal for the next 7 days and we’ll just have one chance for snow before Christmas and even that won’t amount to much. A cold front passes across the state tonight and we’ll see snow showers possible through tomorrow at noon but only about a half inch of accumulation is anticipated.  After a sunny Friday with highs near 30 we’ll see a fair weather Christmas weekend with highs in the mid 30s for Christmas Day.  This will be the first “Brown” Christmas in Northeast Wisconsin since 2006 and the third in the past 10 years which is about average.  Since weather records began in 1886, Green Bay has seen a White Christmas (defined as a snow depth of at least one inch) 70% of the time.  White or Brown…Santa will be able to deliver presents to the kids regardless. I mean he IS Santa, ya know.

 It’s another cloudy and mild day on tap for us with rain moving in tomorrow.  You may encounter some slippery roads this morning, particularly to the north as low level moisture could deposit on the roads and create a thin coat of ice.  In fact there is a dense fog advisory in effect this morning for the northern sections of our viewing area and a freezing rain advisory in effect for Menominee County, Michigan.  Highs today will be about 12 degrees above normal.  A storm system moving in from the southwest will tap into Gulf of Mexico moisture and bring periods of rain tomorrow and maybe even a rumble of thunder!  After that we are getting colder to end  the week.  Have a great day!

 I’ve been getting a lot of people asking me…”when are we going to get our first snowfall?”  Snow lovers have been spoiled over the past few years with our first named winter storm happening in late November or early December.  Right now though  it doesn’t look like we have any chances of a big snowfall over the next 10 days.  We will have cold air however.  The coldest weather of the season will impact us late in the week when an Arctic air mass skims the region Friday and Saturday.  Until that time we can expect uneventful and very seasonal weather with partly sunny skies today and Wednesday and high temperatures near 30° (Normal High is 32°) Thursday will be the transition day as temperatures will fall in the afternoon and by Friday morning the cold blast brings a wake up temperature of 10° with a high near 20° later in the day.  Another very chilly Saturday morning will greet us (near 10° once again) then we improve in time of the Packers game versus the Raiders.  Sunday’s high will be in the mid 30s with partly sunny skies. 

Enjoy the sunshine today because we’ll be under the clouds for the weekend.  Today’s high of 35° is right about normal for this time of year.  A storm system will approach from the southwest tonight and move into the state by Sunday morning.  Right now the track of the storm looks like it will take it just to the south of the Fox Cities which means it will be mainly a rain event for Green Bay and the Fox Cities but the farther northwest you go, the more snow you’ll see.  There is a chance for 4 to 6 inches of snow in Northern Marinette County,  Northern Oconto, Menominee County and western Shawano County.  Things could change so check back here and watch FOX 11 News at 5 and 9 and Good Day Wisconsin for the latest updates. 

It’s a chilly start to the day but we’ll see lots of sunshine this morning before clouds start to stream in.  Expect a high today near 40 for the last day of November then it seems we flip a switch into December and have a few chances for snow in the first week.  A system will bring light snow tomorrow to the area with up to an inch expected to the north.  A more potent storm will move in this weekend and some computer models bring a hefty snowfall to northeast Wisconsin  (see the GFS model for Sunday below) but others have the snow falling to our north so we’ll keep tracking!

First off…Thanksgiving will be just great with highs near 52 and mostly sunny skies but be careful as you head out this morning as areas of fog are forming and there may be slippery spots on the roads with temperatures below freezing.  Driving conditions will improve later this morning but the clouds will take a while to move out.  We’ll see gradual clearing today with a high near 44.  A warming trend will last through the rest of the week culminating in highs in the low 50s for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  If you’re heading out to do some Black Friday shopping at midnight on Friday, it will still be mild with highs near 52°. Over the weekend, rain showers are likely and we could even see a few flurries late Sunday when temperatures drop into the upper 30s.