First Alert Weather: Milder conditions this weekend

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - Clouds will settle in for Friday evening with temperatures near 0°. Some clearing takes place overnight into Saturday morning, while temperatures slowly rise through the single digits. Milder this weekend with more clouds than sun. Some messy weather is possible Monday afternoon and night with the next cold front driving through the region.

Friday was a frigid one in the Wisconsin River Valley. Morning lows started out in the -10s to around -20°, with wind chills as low as -30° to -35°. Sunshine faded to clouds during the afternoon hours as temps crept above zero. Those clouds will be in place through the evening with steady temperatures close to zero. Some clearing will take place after midnight, while temps climb slowly through the single digits leading up to daybreak on Saturday.

Saturday starts with some sunshine, but clouds will be on the increase for midday and stick around for the afternoon. Notably milder with highs in the mid to upper 20s. Clouds Saturday night and into the morning on Sunday. A small chance of a few flurries in the north. Breaks of sunshine are possible Sunday afternoon with highs in the low 30s.

The next weather maker is expected to arrive Monday afternoon with a risk of snow showers in the Northwoods, and rain showers, perhaps mixed with a few flakes in Central Wisconsin. The amount of precipitation is not much, with perhaps up to 1″ of snow accumulating in the north through late Monday evening. The risk of ice is minor but something we will be watching over the next couple of days. The temperature is the key across Central Wisconsin as to whether is warm enough for rain to just create puddles and wet conditions on the roads or freeze to untreated surfaces later Monday into Monday evening. Highs on Monday are in the mid 30s.

Clouds breaking for sun on Tuesday with highs close to 40°. Even a bit warmer on Wednesday with a fair amount of sunshine. Highs in the low 40s.

There is a chance later in the week of another storm system moving from the southern Plains into the central/eastern Great Lakes. Most of the long-range models keep this storm too far away to create more than clouds in the region. One model, the European, gets the storm track close enough to produce rain in the SE parts of the region on Thursday. For now, we are not too impressed with the impacts this could produce locally, but also something we are going to keep tabs on in the coming days as better data arrives. Highs on Thursday are in the low to mid 30s, dropping back into the low 20s for daytime highs next Friday.

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