Freezing Rain Advisory Tonight

On Wednesday, I warned about the potential for icing in southern Wisconsin tonight and tomorrow morning.  The National Weather Service is obviously reading Rippeology, because they issued a Freezing Rain Advisory early this morning.

It goes into effect at 11pm tonight and continues through 8am Saturday.  The advisory area covers points from Dane County southward into northern Illinois.

Here's the National Weather Service statement.

Freezing rain occurs when snow in the upper atmosphere mixes with warmer air in the lower atmosphere, changing the snow to rain.  When surface temperatures are below freezing, that rain freezes on contact.  Southern Wisconsin has not been above freezing since the early morning of November 11th, so the ground and roadways are well below 32 degrees.

The rest of the weekend is also setting up exactly as predicted on Wednesday -- light rain midday on Saturday and then tapering as temperatures reach the low 40s.  Expect rain Sunday and Sunday night, with precipitation changing to snow in the afternoon on Monday.  We could see an inch or two of Monday by Tuesday morning.

More pretty maps and prognostications coming this weekend to give you a better preview of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  In the meantime, stay safe if you're going to be later tonight!