UPDATE at 9:15 a.m. on Dec. 22: Following some light snowfall overnight, the Milwaukee County area and much of Wisconsin are bracing for Winter Storm Elliott. As of now, a winter storm warning is officially in effect.
According to TMJ4’s Brendan Johnson, southeast Wisconsin should only expect between 3-to-5 inches of snow on Thursday with highs in the 30s dropping into the single digits when Winter Storm Elliott begins to arrive by the mid-afternoon.
The situation is set to grow more dire overnight into Friday, when single-digit highs and winds between 20 and 30 MPH on average. Gusts will push up toward 50 MPH, which will generate wind chills in the negative 20-to-30-degree range.
More snow is possible through Friday into Saturday, but the overall state of the weather should improve as Winter Storm Elliott moves past the region.
UPDATE at 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2022: The potential blizzard set to hit Wisconsin on Thursday officially has a name: Winter Storm Elliott. Although its snow totals aren’t expected to be as severe as initially projected, Winter Storm Elliott threatens to stymie holiday travel and cause rolling power and internet outages.
TMJ4’s Brian Niznansky joined Wisconsin’s Afternoon News to discuss Winter Storm Elliott and its looming impact on the Milwaukee metro area.
“We’ll see some impactful snow, but really with this one, it’s going to be the combination of the snow that we see and eventually, the winds that really crank up and blow the snow around,” Niznansky said. “That transition happens sometime on [Thursday] evening.”
Although he stated that people traveling short distances within the area should be able to brave Winter Storm Elliott, he advises against any long-distance travel from the evening of Dec. 22, 2022 through the morning on Friday the 23rd.
Snow is expected to begin falling north of Milwaukee in Fond Du Lac County on Wednesday night, though it’s not expected to reach the city limit until Thursday. Areas north of Milwaukee could see two-to-four inches of snow overnight before Winter Storm Elliott hits on Thursday.
“It’s going to be enough that we’re going to have to shovel, it’s going to be enough that the snow plows will be out, but as far as a whopper of a pure snowfall? That’s probable not going to be the case here in southeastern Wisconsin,” Niznansky told WAN.
He expects the Plymouth area to be further impacted by Winter Storm Elliott due to its location.
This is a breaking update. The following story has been left unaltered from its original version.
MILWAUKEE — As a winter storm approaches Wisconsin, snowfall estimates for the southeastern portion of the state are falling as the city braces for a winter storm with blizzard potential for the days leading into the holiday weekend.
As reported by TMJ4’s Brian Niznansky, estimated snowfall totals in the Milwaukee area have dropped from a 4-to-20-inch range to a lighter 6-to-10-inch range. It’s expected that snow will begin overnight on Wednesday for South-Central Wisconsin. That pattern will likely shift to the Southeast on Thursday before the snow builds into the nighttime.
By then, high speed winds and heavy snowfall are expected to come into effect for Milwaukee overnight into Thursday morning. Wind chill is projected to reach as low as -30 degrees, regardless of the snow.
With this being the case, long-distance travel is advised against since road conditions are expected to be quite harsh. Anyone who must travel for the holidays is advised to do so on Wednesday or wait until Christmas Eve (Saturday, Dec. 24) to hit the road.
WTMJ will offer comprehensive coverage of the potential blizzard hitting Milwaukee on Dec. 22 into the 23rd. Tune into the station live by clicking here and keep up with WTMJ.com for the latest in your community.
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