Milwaukee weather forecast: strong wind gusts, around an inch of rain Tuesday night

Milwaukee is forecasted for between a half inch and an inch of rain on Tuesday evening as a storm system moves across the state, with higher chances of severe weather in central and western parts of the state.

The system is expected to bring storms to the Milwaukee area with strong wind gusts up to 40 to 45 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. In the western parts of the state, there’s a small risk of tornadoes forming.

“We could expect a few thunderstorms I would say. Most of the thunderstorms are probably going to be on the weaker side by the time they get to Milwaukee,” said Aidan Kuroski, a meteorologist at the Milwaukee NWS office. “We could still see some lightning, hail.”

In the southwestern parts of the state, there’s a higher chance of severe weather, according to the NWS. The organization is rating that area at a two out of five, or slight risk, for severe weather with conditions like severe thunderstorms, quarter-sized hail in isolated to scattered areas, wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and a small chance of tornadoes.

The NWS rates Milwaukee at a one out of five for severe weather, or a marginal risk.

There’s still some level of uncertainty in the system’s conditions that depend on the organization it takes, Kuroski said. In the west, if the storms develop as individual storms, it could mean bigger hail of up to an inch and a half. If linear, meaning the storms group together, stronger winds and tornadoes are more possible.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty with how the progression of storms is going to go,” he said. “We are almost certain that we’ll get storms. It’s just some of the conditions revolving around those storms … when they come in here they’re going to be pretty strong, but how organized are they going to be?”

In Milwaukee, the storm is expected to bring showers between 9 and 10 p.m. Rain is forecasted to begin in the midafternoon west of Madison around 3 to 5 p.m., near Madison and the Wisconsin Dells between 5 and 7 p.m.; and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to the west of Milwaukee.

The rain is expected to fall in multiple rounds through Wednesday. Kuroski said that in Milwaukee, after the evening rains, there will be a dry period before more showers occur in the morning around daybreak on Wednesday.

Wisconsin weather radar

Wisconsin weather warnings

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin weather expected to bring chances of severe conditions, heavy rain