Nice weather carries into Memorial Day with a summer-like heatwave arriving this week

Another beautiful day is shaping up in Western Wisconsin as upper-level ridging over the Great Lakes and a cut-off upper low directly south of it in the Tennessee Valley keep a blocking pattern in place aloft. In response, we can expect a mostly sunny sky across the area with light southeast winds helping drive temperatures above average to the low 80s this afternoon. The air will continue to be rather dry, so if any of your outdoor plans include lighting a fire, you’ll want to exercise extreme caution. Meanwhile tonight, our trend of quiet weather sticks around with more sunshine on tap as we head into Memorial Day tomorrow with high pressure remaining in place to the east. Temperatures will warm a bit more with highs climbing into the mid and upper 80s.

Our weather will remain uneventful Tuesday with more sunshine expected, though the upper-level blocking feature will start to slide a little more eastward. Breezy winds will develop from the south, bringing a push of warmer air into our neck of the woods as temperatures climb up near 90 with increasing dew points. By Wednesday and into the start of June on Thursday, heat and humidity will really start to ramp up as southerly flow sticks around with another upper-level ridge of high pressure beginning to build over the region. Temperatures are forecast to reach the low 90s with dew points rising through the 50s and into the low 60s, making the air feel a bit uncomfortable. The ridge will be persistent into the start of next weekend, though there are some disagreements on the placement of its axis during this time frame. The exact position of the ridge will play a role in how warm we get, but it currently appears that we’ll hang on to the upper 80s Friday before cooling slightly into the mid-80s to kick off the first weekend of the month. Plenty of sunshine will continue through the forecast period with a weak cold front expected to stall over Northwestern Wisconsin Thursday, before sliding southward on Friday. The added heat and humidity on top of increasing instability may spark up a few isolated pop-up showers and storms mid to late week, but any rain will unfortunately be sparse. This means lawns and plants will require frequent watering in the days ahead!

Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved.