Alert archive / Wisconsin / Extreme Cold Warnings in 2026
Extreme Cold Warning 1, NWS Milwaukee, WI
NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this extreme cold warning at Jan 21, 2026, 1:25 PM CST for 20 counties in Wisconsin. It took effect at Jan 23, 2026, 12:00 AM CST. It was in force for 30 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 21, 2026, 1:25 PM CST (19:25 UTC)
- In effect from
- Jan 23, 2026, 12:00 AM CST
- Expired
- Jan 24, 2026, 6:00 AM CST
- In force
- 30 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Milwaukee, WI
Counties Columbia County, WI, Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Green County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Racine County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waukesha County, WI
The radar
The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:24 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 336 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1849 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 82 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 183 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 398 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this extreme cold warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this extreme cold warning went out at Jan 21, 10:44 AM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 10:44 AM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 21, 10:04 AM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 21, 9:36 AM CST, 3 hours 49 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Milwaukee, WI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 8:51 PM CST | Gale Warning | MKX | 35 hr | |
| Jan 20, 8:51 PM CST | Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | MKX | 3 days | |
| Jan 21, 1:27 PM CST | Extreme Cold Watch | MKX | Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green, Green Lake and 14 more | 21 hr |
| Jan 21, 1:42 PM CST | Winter Weather Advisory | MKX | Dane, Green, Iowa, Kenosha, Lafayette, Racine and 2 more | 9 hr |
Nearby
Extreme Cold Warnings in Wisconsin, 2026Every extreme cold warning in 2026
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.