A warm front will surge into the Badger state Wednesday bringing with it the chance for a few showers and possible thunderstorms into Wednesday afternoon and evening. Showers may linger across the Northwoods and UP into Friday morning, but as warm air pours into Wisconsin, our atmosphere will become capped. A capped atmosphere means that parcels of air can't rise freely into the atmosphere, which limits clouds and thunderstorms from forming. That means we should stay mostly dry heading into Friday afternoon through Saturday.

Although we'll be capped Saturday, a stray thunderstorm can't be ruled out thanks to a potential lake breeze off of Lake Michigan or Superior. Temps will top out in the lower 80's for the Northwoods and the mid 80's across Central WI making Saturday the warmest day of 2012. A cold front will bring the widespread threat for rain and thunderstorms late Sunday morning through the afternoon. A solar eclipse will occur late Sunday afternoon across most of western North America, but thanks to clouds, we may not be able to catch this rare event :(


Feeling & Looking like Summer!
Chief Meteorologist Matt Benz
Forecast updated 10:00 PM Wednesday


Wednesday Night: Patchy frost possible to the north & east of Rhinelander. Few more clouds after midnight.
Temps: 34° to 42°
Winds: NW/SE Light

Thursday: Showers with rumbles of thunder into the afternoon, especially across the Northwoods
Temps: 68° to 73°
Winds: South @ 10-20 mph



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Severe Storm Spotter Training Is Starting Up! The National Weather Service will be offering free SKYWARN Severe Storm Spotter classes to the public once again this Spring. These classes help you to identify types of severe weather, what to watch out for, and how to relay that information on to the National Weather Service.

Date Time City Location

May 17th 6:30PM Iron River West Iron Cty Fire Hall


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Related weather notes...

If you would like a Meteorologist to speak to your group or class contact:

Matt Benz: mbenz@wjfw.com

or call the Weather Center at: 715-365-8812

If you have a weather photo that you want to put on the air, send it to weatherphoto@wjfw.com for consideration! at the station with other amounts in the Northwoods ranging from 1/4

Matt joined WJFW back in February of 2008 as Weekend Meteorologist, was promoted to Morning Meteorologist in May of 2008 and has been Chief Meteorologist since September of 2010.

Matt graduated in May of 2007 from the University of North Dakota with B.S. degrees in Atmospheric Sciences and Environmental Geography. During his years in North Dakota, Matt was involved with several campus weather and news shows including Prairie Weather Update, River Watch, UND Weather Update and Studio One in which he worked as a forecaster, producer, anchor and feature reporter.

Matt grew up in Eden Prairie, a suburb of Twin Cities in Minnesota, but is a cheesehead at heart and has the Packer Jerseys to prove it! He's considered the Northwoods his second home since childhood as his family’s roots are from all across the Northwoods and Central Wisconsin. In fact his grandparents are Weather Watchers for the evening shows on Newswatch 12!

Believe it or not, Matt equates his move to the Northwoods as a move to the tropics as the winters in North Dakota can be cold, long, but exciting! While living in Grand Forks, Matt honed his forecasting skills with a wide range of weather including frequent blizzards, record setting cold of -43°F (-70° with the wind chill) and snirt (combination of snow & dirt)!

Matt enjoys fishing and hunting during the summer & fall and skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing when the snow begins to fall. He looks forward to living in the Northwoods and exploring what Northern Wisconsin has to offer!

Matt joined WJFW in April of 2010.

He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and spent his childhood in the suburb of Wauwatosa. As a kid, he was terrified of storms and ran for cover every time he heard a crack of thunder. Around the age of 12, Matt started asking questions about the weather rather than being afraid of it and quickly grew to love the science of weather. He greatly admired WTMJ's Chief Meteorologist Paul Joseph as a child, and knew that he wanted to take a similar path with his life.

Matt continued his tour of southern Wisconsin by enrolling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his first year at school, while collecting hail samples outside his dorm, he was hit by a baseball-sized hailstone! He completed his B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in May of 2009. During his time in school, Matt interned at WKOW in Madison where he was lucky enough to have four other Meteorologists to teach him the intricacies of TV weather. Even after storm chasing for 12 hours in Iowa, Matt worked at the station as those same storms rolled through southern Wisconsin in the early morning hours, finally getting back home at 3 AM.

Matt feels fortunate to begin his meteorological career in his home state. In addition to exploring the greater Rhinelander area, Matt enjoys almost anything involving sports. His particular favorites are volleyball, golf, baseball, and soccer, and he enthusiastically supports the Packers, Brewers, and Badgers. Matt also loves going to concerts, discovering new music, and playing his guitar as much (and as loud) as he can. He welcomes any suggestions for places to visit or things to do that are unique to the region.

Ryan Michaels was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. He has been a Florida resident all of his life until he joined the WJFW team in January of 2011 as a Weekend Meteorologist and Reporter.

When Ryan was growing up he first learned of his interests in meteorology at a young age. He remembers a local meteorologist giving a presentation to his third grade class, and how awesome it would be to be able to “predict the future” by telling someone what the weather will be like a few days in advance. He then became enthralled with hurricanes, tracking and attempting to forecast their path, earning him the nickname Weatherman among friends. He would hope the hurricanes would come his way because enough rain would flood his neighborhood and school, closing it for the day, giving him the day off.

Ryan graduated from The Florida State University in May of 2008, earning a Bachelors of Science degree in Meteorology. He spent most of his college years with WFSU-4FSU Weather where his broadcasting dreams came to life. After graduating he briefly pursued another passion, but maintained his dream of broadcasting by volunteering with WFSU and WCTV, where he soon realized he was born to forecast!

Ryan enjoys all forms of competition, whether it is sports or a simple board game. He is an avid golf enthusiast and cannot wait to see what courses Wisconsin and the Northwoods have to offer. Some of his favorite things to do are cook, workout, or root on one of his beloved sports teams.

Ryan is enjoying his new environment saying, “Feel free to contact me with any story ideas or exciting things to experience in the Northwoods”