Why Is It So Cold In Wisconsin?

MILWAUKEE, WI -- The furnace still kicks on at night. Nobody's gone in the backyard pool yet, and the fall jackets are still hung in the closet. It's the middle of June 2019, and many residents are wondering, "why is it so cold in Wisconsin?"

This year, with a couple weeks of weather remaining, Wisconsinites living in Southeastern Wisconsin have seen daytime temperatures fluctuate from low-60s to the occasional day in the 80s.

But for the most part, it's been a steady diet of temperatures in the mid-60s during the day with mid-50s at night. And who could forget Saturday, the day before Father's Day, when daytime temperatures dropped 20 degrees in a matter of hours during the day?

Wisconsin Patch talked with Andy Boxell, a Meteorologist with the National Weather Service out of Milwaukee. Boxell said there are a number of reasons for the cooler temperatures, however a leading cause is a weather pattern that has been bringing air down from the Canadian Prairies.

"This has kept cooler weather across the area, and frequent cold fronts have really acted to keep the warmer and much more humid conditions well to our south," he told Patch. "We've frequently seen north to northeast winds across the area, which is an onshore flow for areas along the Lake Michigan shoreline. This has acted to really enhance the cooling effects of Lake Michigan, as water temperatures are still in the 40s."

When Wisconsin Patch asked Boxell why, oh why, this has been happening, he said one important factor has been the track of the surface high pressure areas. "Their track has largely been across central Wisconsin into central Michigan, which has resulted in onshore flow along the Lake Michigan shore," he said. "This has definitely make things more 'raw' for areas near the lake. If those highs had tracked a little further south, then southerly flow would have likely resulted in some warmer temperatures."

Boxell did give us a little hope that this unseasonably cool weather won't hang around forever. "It does look like some warmer temperatures are in store, especially as we head into next week," he said. "It doesn't look hot per se, but closer to average in the upper 70s to perhaps low 80s."