Alert archive / Wisconsin / Extreme Cold Watches in 2026

Extreme Cold Watch 2, NWS Milwaukee, WI

January 21, 202620 counties in Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this extreme cold watch at Jan 21, 2026, 1:27 PM CST for 20 counties in Wisconsin. It took effect at Jan 23, 2026, 1:00 PM CST. It was in force for .

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 21, 2026, 1:27 PM CST (19:27 UTC)
In effect from
Jan 23, 2026, 1:00 PM CST
Expired
Jan 22, 2026, 10:14 AM CST
In force
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 19:31 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this extreme cold watch 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 watch went out at Jan 21, 10:44 AM CST, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 10:44 AM CST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 21, 10:04 AM CST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
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<body>
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    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
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        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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        Please try again in a few minutes.
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 21, 9:36 AM CST, 3 hours 51 minutes before
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<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Milwaukee, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 20, 8:51 PM CSTGale WarningMKX35 hr
Jan 20, 8:51 PM CSTHeavy Freezing Spray WarningMKX3 days
Jan 21, 1:25 PM CSTExtreme Cold WarningMKXColumbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green, Green Lake and 14 more65 hr
Jan 21, 1:42 PM CSTWinter Weather AdvisoryMKXDane, Green, Iowa, Kenosha, Lafayette, Racine and 2 more9 hr

Nearby

Extreme Cold Watches in Wisconsin, 2026Every extreme cold watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.