Dangerous Heat and High Humidity Will Create ‘Soupy’ Weather In Wisconsin This Weekend
With heat indexes over 100 degrees expected across much of the state, the National Weather Service is urging residents to take precautions
A warm day at Veterans Park in 2024. Photo by Sophie Bolich.
The National Weather Service is warning of dangerous heat and high humidity this weekend across much of Wisconsin, with heat indexes expected to surpass triple digits.
Because the “soupy” weather is coming after a relatively mild spring, residents are urged to take extra precautions.
Heat and the humidity will make things uncomfortable Saturday and Sunday, said NWS Meteorologist Ben Miller of Milwaukee. He said zones of high pressure air on the ground and high in the atmosphere, known as a heat dome, will essentially trap heat blowing in from the south and the humidity it carries from the Gulf of Mexico.
An update from the weather service’s Milwaukee office shows air temperatures reaching into the 90s across southern Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday. With dew high points anticipated, heat indexes could peak at between 100 to 105 in cities like Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells, Madison and Janesville on those days.
It’s not unusual for Wisconsin to have hot and humid weather, but Miller said “it’s been a pretty mild spring” and people aren’t acclimated the same way they are later in the summer.
“It’s certainly going to feel like middle-of-summer humidity,” Miller said. “I mean, we’re talking low-to-mid 70-degree dew points, and that’s going to feel pretty uncomfortable.”
Temperatures further north won’t be much better this weekend. The NWS office in La Crosse is forecasting heat indexes past 100 degrees in La Crosse, Wisconsin Rapids and Eau Claire, as well. And with lows not expected to drop below the mid-70s on Saturday night, there won’t be much relief.
Meteorologist Ryan Dunleavy of the NWS office in the Twin Cities said to think of the heat dome like “an upside-down bowl” that traps heat and humidity, allowing it to build up. He said the weather is akin to “Florida coming up here.”
“You’re basically standing in soup,” Dunleavy said. “It’s not comfortable, at least for us.”
Even in northwestern Wisconsin, heat indexes are expected to near 100 degrees or higher on Saturday and Sunday in places like Hayward and Siren. Meteorologist Woody Unruh of the NWS office in Duluth, Minnesota said it’s important for residents to think about doing things like yard work in the morning or evening hours and drink plenty of water or non caffeinated, nonalcoholic beverages.
“Just check up on any relatives or neighbors,” Unruh said. “Especially someone that doesn’t have AC in their house. Feel free to invite them over to kind of give them a relief from the heat.”
Dangerous heat and high humidity are moving into Wisconsin this weekend was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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