Some soggy weather is coming to the Milwaukee-area in the coming days, eliciting flash flood warnings and a water drop alert from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The alert urges residents to cut water use ahead of the storm.
There is a 20% to 30% chance for showers and storms in the late afternoon and evening, and a broad area of showers and thunderstorms to move through overnight, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist J.J. Wood.
Those storms will move in a southeastern to eastern route, bringing flash flood warnings to Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Wausau, Green Bay, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Janesville, and the Wisconsin Dells areas between 1 a.m. 10 a.m. Tuesday.
“I would say the potential for heavy rain and flash flooding is going to be the biggest risk, as far as adverse weather across Wisconsin, for tonight (Monday) into tomorrow (Tuesday) morning,” said Wood.
An inch and a half to two and a half inches of rain is expected to fall in northern parts of the Milwaukee area. An inch to two inches of rain is expected to fall in other parts of the area.
The showers and storms will linger around Tuesday morning before ending about midday, Wood said. Parts of the state are in for thunderstorms with an “outside” chance for some stronger or severe storms developing across southwestern Wisconsin, Wood said.
MMSD urges residents to use less water ahead of the storm
On Monday morning, the sewerage district, which serves Milwaukee and many of its surrounding suburbs, asked residents to cut water use ahead of the storm to reduce the risk of a combined sewer overflow.
This means residents in the Greater Milwaukee area should plan to take shorter showers, save laundry and dishes for another day, and empty rain barrels regularly.
Milwaukee has a combined sewage system in which both stormwater and wastewater from homes and businesses flow through the same pipes before it is treated.
If heavy rains cause the water reclamation facilities and deep tunnels to fill to capacity, the sewerage district must discharge untreated water into Milwaukee’s three rivers and Lake Michigan to prevent wastewater from backing up into homes and businesses.
So far, there has been one overflow this year in early April, where 357 million gallons of untreated wastewater were released into local rivers and Lake Michigan.
But considering the amount of rain southeastern Wisconsin has received so far this year, there have been minimal impacts to local waterways.
The storm will bring cooler temperatures, less humidity
According to Wood, the severe weather will also will lower the humidity and temperature in upcoming days.
Compared to an 80% humidity index last week, this week is expected to drop to 50%. The average temperature last week was 85 to 88 degrees, which is 2 to 5 degrees higher than the “normal” average this time of year of 83 degrees.
This week, the average temperature is expected to be in the mid to low-70s, with the coolest day being Tuesday, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Taylor Patterson.
Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @caitlooby.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Flash flood warnings in effect Tuesday, MMSD issues water drop alert
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