Milwaukee reaches warmest winter temperature ever

The 71-degree temperature recorded at Mitchell International Airport shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday is the warmest temperature ever recorded in Milwaukee during meteorological winter — or December through February — the National Weather Service in Sullivan said.

Temperatures will begin to drop toward more seasonal levels Thursday in southeastern Wisconsin, while a winter storm bears down on northwestern Wisconsin, the weather service said.

The normal high temperature in Milwaukee on Feb. 22 is 34.5 degrees. Wednesday's unseasonable warmth also broke the record for the number of days during February that Milwaukee surpassed 60 degrees — four, the weather service said.

As of Tuesday, this is the third warmest February in Milwaukee history, with an average daily temperature of 34.1.

In second place is February 1998, when the average daily temperature was 34.5, and in first place is February 1882, when it was 35.1, according to data from the weather service, which has been maintaining records for Milwaukee since 1871.

This is the second February in a row when a spike in temperatures was recorded toward the end of the month. High temperatures of 57 and 61 were recorded Feb. 27 and 28, 2016, according to weather service data.

Areas of fog are expected in Milwaukee early Thursday before a mostly cloudy day, with a high temperature near 43 degrees and a northeast wind of 5-15 mph, the weather service said.

Thunderstorms are possible in Milwaukee on Thursday night and Friday, when a high temperature near 47 is expected, and snow mixed with freezing rain is likely Saturday, when a high temperature near 32 is expected, according to the weather service forecast.

A winter storm watch will be in effect from Thursday evening through Saturday morning in northwestern Wisconsin, where 8 to 12 inches of snow is expected, along with wind gusts from the northeast as high as 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth, Minnesota.