A powerful storm is set to hit Wisconsin over the weekend, and while it’s too early for forecasters to say exactly where it will hit hardest, there is agreement that it will bring heavy snow to the area.
Total snowfall amounts are forecast to exceed 12 inches in a wide swath of the state, causing significant travel impacts, the National Weather Service said Thursday.
AccuWeather predicts 6 to 10 inches for Madison and 10 to 20 inches for a segment of central Wisconsin that includes Wisconsin Dells and Stevens Point.
The weekend storm will follow a clipper system that will move through Thursday night into Friday, bringing heavy snow to northern Wisconsin, but none to southern Wisconsin.
However, much of southern Wisconsin is under a wind advisory until 6 p.m. Friday, with gusts of up to 55 mph.
Madison will see a high near 40 under mostly cloudy skies on Friday.
The Weather Service forecasts Madison to see 1 to 3 inches of snow Saturday night, 2 to 4 inches Sunday, and more snow that could be heavy at times Sunday night, with no predicted totals.
Chances of freezing rain were also included in the Madison-area outlook for the weekend.
Quiet weather should move in after the powerful storm moves out.
Madison should see highs Monday through Wednesday near 20, 22 and 35, and lows Monday night and Tuesday night around 0 and 7.
Madison has seen 41.7 inches of snow this snow season (since July 1), 3.9 inches below normal.
