The cold air will continue today across the state before winds turn back to the southwest and begin a warm-up for Wednesday. Although the temperatures will swing upward Tuesday night the warmest we can hope for on Wednesday is the low-forties. Colder air will move right back in to the state on Thursday.

Intense bursts of snow showers across southeast Wisconsin on Monday dropped little in the way of accumulating snow but enough moisture to cause some traffic headaches. The light snow melted on contact but immediately froze on overpasses where air was allowed to flow underneath and keep the road surfaces below freezing. When thin, transparent ice forms on road surfaces in the winter season it is generally referred to as black ice or clear ice. While the ice is not truly black, it is transparent, allowing the usual black asphalt roadway to be seen through it, and that is why the term black ice is used with this situation.

This type of glazing is usually slicker than other icing conditions. Black ice has relatively little entrapped air in the form of bubbles which make this more transparent that typical icing or glazing. Black ice can also form in warmer conditions after a prolonged cold spell or when standing water on roads freeze as the temperatures fall dramatically.