After a few seasonal days with highs in the low to mid 30s, our temperatures are expected to climb again.
This month is shaping up to be one of the warmest Decembers on record.
The mild weather has made for some unusual scenes, such as construction underway along the Root River Parkway near Whitnall Park. Workers have been able to get a jump start on the pavilion that will house Sprecher's traveling beer garden next summer.
This week, to celebrate the progress, a Sprecher van pulled up and a worker tapped a keg. An accordion player played "In Heaven There Is No Beer."
Parks Director John Dargle is pleased with the work that's underway.
"They're putting permeable pavers down, which makes a little better in terms of protecting the grassy areas and the natural areas here being more sustainable," Dargle says.
Dargle says the mild conditions also have allowed the park system to start upgrading playgrounds and trails, instead of waiting until spring.
And parks users are enjoying an extended season for warmer-weather activities.
"Here you go, in the middle of December, and we're out golfing, walking, hiking, instead of skiing, sledding," Dargle says.
"The incidence of legitimate winter weather will be much more diminished, if you will, than a normal year," says Mike Westendorf, of the Innovative Weather Center at UWM.
He says the El Nino phenomenon is causing the mild weather, and should continue for months.
"When you average it out, we are going to be above to well above the normal. We are going to see much wetter weather than normal. This does not mean that we won't get any snow; I know that's a bit of a panic button right now for some people," Westendorf says.
Panic, not just for those who bemoan the delay of winter sports. There also are more serious concerns about the warmer weather. It's caused precipitation to fall in the form of rain, bringing with it the potential for flooding. Wisconsin Emergency Management is monitoring the southern half of the state, as some rivers could crest late this week. Tod Pritchard is the agency's spokesman.
"We've lucked out in that the ground is not frozen yet, so the ability of the system to absorb a lot of this water is pretty good right now, but obviously, we've had so much rain over the last couple of days," Pritchard says.
The fact that the ground is wet -- not frozen -- is a bad thing for some people with seasonal allergies. Dr. Mark Moss is with the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison. He says people allergic to outdoor mold haven't yet had relief.
"Outdoor mold grows in the soil, in leaf piles. Usually by this time of year, mold activity is gone," Moss says.
Gone, because of snow cover or freezing temperatures. They end mold activity.
Meanwhile, the mild conditions can potentially goof up the life cycle of plants and animal life. Grass is green again and some springtime bulbs are sprouting. Don Quintenz of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center has been noticing changes -- and not just this year.
"Bluebirds are having a heck of a time," Quintenz says.
Quintenz says Decembers have been getting warmer, throwing off the birds.
"They never used to winter in Wisconsin when I started as a naturalist, and now they're annual. And so that's OK if the weather stays warm, but then you often get a really cold weather situation that the bluebirds don't respond well to, or some of the early migrants who come back in, set up nest activities, and then you get these unseasonably cold spells," Quintenz says.
Cold spells the birds might not survive.
We all know the cold can suddenly descend. Yet this mild month might be one for the books. So far, our average high is 41.3 degrees, the second highest December on record.
