A quiet and seasonable Friday with windy and warm condition on Saturday

WH AT WE A RE T RAC K IN G: A mainly dry and mild pattern continues through the weekend with some showers or thunderstorms possible Saturday night.

NEXT 24 HRS: Cloud cover quickly decreases from north to south after midnight, resulting in mostly sunny skies by sunrise, except in areas in SW WI, where clouds will linger through Friday morning. Overnight temperatures will range from the low 50s near the Wisconsin River to the middle 30s north of Eau Claire. Mostly sunny skies are expected on Friday under slightly cooler conditions. High temperatures will be in the middle 60s to low 70s, which is close to average for early October.

LOOKING AHEAD: A stronger frontal system will impact the area Saturday night through Sunday, resulting in windy conditions and a better chance for showers and thunderstorms early Saturday night (between 6 to 9 pm). Rain amounts look light once again, generally under .25".  Many locations may hit or exceed 80 degrees again on Saturday as southerly winds increase ahead of the front. Although temperatures cool back to seasonable levels on Sunday and Monday (60s to low 70s), they will climb back above average (70s) on Tuesday and beyond. Some areas may approach 80 degrees during the second half of the week before a slight cool-down by the weekend. Dry conditions look to persist through all of next week and the following weekend.

SPACE WEATHER

There is a chance to see the Northern Lights Friday or Saturday night as magnetic plasma from the sun potentially could impact the Earth.  This resulted from a large flare erupting on the Earth-facing side of the sun on Oct 3.  Due to predicted storm levels (G2 to G3 on a scale from 1 to 9), it likely will only be visible on the horizon.

SEPTEMB ER NUMBERS & LOOKING AHEAD TO OCTOBER

Overall September ended drier and warmer than average across most of the region.  In fact, La Crosse had it's 8th warmest September on average. Average high and low temperatures continue to fall in October with all locations seeing average high temperatures in the 50s for the second half of the month.

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