Cold air settles in for the weekend on blustery northwest winds that drop temperatures into the twenties and thirties across southeast Wisconsin. There will be a few flurries or snow showers possible state-wide, while lake effect snow will be common all weekend around the Lake Superior Snow Belt. The chilly air will stay with us all weekend and most of next week.

The winds that will bring cold air into Wisconsin today will also drop wind chills down into the teens and low-twenties across the state. The danger of cold air is more intense in winter when a strong wind is blowing and can cause hypothermia and frostbite in a matter of minutes. Strong winds blowing across exposed flesh cause a pronounced increase in the chilling effect of low temperatures.

While we won’t see wind chill advisories this weekend, here are the thresholds for both advisories and warnings of wind chill. In southern Wisconsin a wind chill advisory is issued when wind chills are expected to be between 20 and 34 degrees below zero with winds of at least ten miles per hour for three hours or more. A wind chill warning is issued when wind chills are expected to be 35 degrees below zero or lower with at least ten mile per hour winds for at least three hours.