Messy weather on its way Friday, Saturday

Winter advisory for southern part of state in effect overnight

MADISON, Wis. — The deep freeze is over, but the warmer air has brought messy weather to southern Wisconsin.

A low pressure system moving up from the south will bring precipitation in this afternoon that will begin as a mixture of rain, freezing rain and sleet before changing over to mostly rain late Friday afternoon and evening. Overnight, the rain will change over to snow as colder air moves in.

As a result, there are several weather advisories are affecting the area. There is a freezing rain advisory for Rock, Jefferson and Dodge counties for this afternoon and evening, due to a possibility of seeing up to a 10th of an inch of ice accumulation.

There is a winter weather advisory for the rest of southern Wisconsin in effect through the night, due to up to one 10th of an inch of ice accumulation along with the possibility of 1 to 2 inches of snow overnight.

Road conditions will be slick at times as a result of the mix of precipitation.

Once the snow winds down Saturday morning, the weekend looks dry and mild with high temperatures remaining in the 30s.

By Friday afternoon, more than a dozen schools had closed early. 

Madison Streets Superintendent Chris Kelley said the city planned to keep 30 crews on the roads Friday until midnight to combat slippery roads. Another set of 30 crews would be dispatched out after midnight to continue salting city streets overnight, he said.