A winter storm watch is in effect for western Wisconsin as it braces for the first measurable snowfall of the season.
It may be hard to accept, but the National Weather Service (NWS) says snow is on the way for parts of Wisconsin. NWS meteorologist Todd Krause says a low pressure system born in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to be here by tomorrow afternoon.
"The low pressure center will go through southern Wisconsin and usually when you get a path like that, that means you get snow to its north," says Krause.
Krause says the low pressure center will collide with cooler, dry air moving south from Canada. Exactly where those two meet, he says, will determine who gets the heavy wet snow.
"Right now we're looking at snowfall probably on the order of two to five, maybe three to five inches in a strip from River Falls and Hudson up to Rice Lake and then Park Falls and Ironwood," says Krause.
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The storm isn't expected to be severe but Krause says the low pressure system could pick up some steam before it hits Wisconsin, which is why they're keeping the winter storm watch in effect.
"Not really any strong wind, no plummeting temperatures, so just a nice reminder of what winter is really all about," says Krause.
Krause says the heaviest snow could fall along the south shore of Lake Superior due to possible lake effect snow. Some spots could get more than six inches but he says there is a silver lining: "The snow that we get will not hang in there until Christmas; I can guarantee you that."
For the rest of the state, it will be a rainy, soggy couple of days but snow will remain out of the forecast for now.
