Winter slowly but surely arriving in Wisconsin this weekend

• Baby it's cold!

Baby it's cold!

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Wisconsinites woke up to their coldest morning of the season. It was four-below zero at Land O’Lakes at seven o’clock – and nearby Eagle River had minus-one, along with Tomahawk.

Much of central and southern Wisconsin were in the teens – but Lake Michigan protected folks in the eastern part of the state, with readings in the 20’s as far north as Sturgeon Bay. Milwaukee was the state’s warm spot with 32. Winds were either light or non-existent, so folks didn’t have to put up with brutal wind-chills. Forecasters say temperatures will warm up to the 30’s throughout the Badger State today.

A winter storm watch has been posted for parts of west-central Wisconsin tomorrow and tomorrow night, but most of the region is only expecting a couple inches. The northwest is expected to get all snow, with a mix of snow-and-rain for mid-Wisconsin and all rain in the south.

The northern half of Wisconsin picked up some light snow Thursday. Armstrong Creek in Forest County had four inches by mid-afternoon. Rhinelander, Minocqua, and Merrill each had two inches. In central Wisconsin, Marshfield had an inch but most of it was gone by lunch time, as temperatures rose into the 30’s. Forecasters said the snow was supposed to drift south, but much of southern Wisconsin was in the 40’s around mid-afternoon – and it was only raining in a few places.

With this kind of weather, state transportation officials say it won’t be long before somebody makes the one-millionth call to Wisconsin’s 5-1-1 travel information line. The system was created three years ago as a one-stop location to get traffic and highway conditions throughout the Badger State. There’s a similar information service on the Internet. You’ll find it at 511WI-Dot-Gov.

Tags: news, wisconsin, weather