Wacky weather brings dense fog advisory, flood watch, winter storm watch

This might be a first for Madison: The National Weather Service on Tuesday morning declared a flood watch for the area to go along with a dense fog advisory and winter storm watch.

This tripleheader is the result of heavy rains that started early Tuesday morning, fog developing ahead of a warm front, and heavy snow coming Wednesday.

The flood watch is in effect from 3 p.m. Tuesday to late Tuesday night the Weather Service said, and includes south central, east central and southeast Wisconsin.

Rain that fell overnight coupled with more rain expected later Tuesday could result in total rainfall of 2 to 3 inches.

Since the rain is falling on frozen ground, it's running off into waterways, bringing the potential for floods and possible ice jams on area streams.

"Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop," the Weather Service said.

The dense fog advisory ends at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The fog is along and ahead of a warm front moving very slowly to the north.

The winter storm watch is in effect from Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon, with rain changing to snow as a strong low pressure system starts pulling much colder air into the region.

The Weather Service predicts 3 to 6 inches of snow, with the highest totals north of a line from Portage to Fond du Lac to Sheboygan.

To top it off, wind chill advisories are possible in the wake of the winter storm as lows are expected to bottom out below zero with strong winds before temperatures moderate for the weekend.