As the air begins to cool, vibrant autumn comes to Milwaukee. The largest city of the state of Wisconsin has no shortage of beautiful scenery since it's surrounded by Lake Michigan, and three rivers: the Menomonee, the Kinnickinnic, and the Milwaukee. The city also boasts 150 parks and miles of scenic trails, perfect for fall foliage walks.

When to see fall colors in Milwaukee

Fall foliage season in Milwaukee usually starts in early September and lasts for a few weeks. The peak season falls around the third week of October. The average temperature during this time is 71 °F (22 °C) to 59 °F (15 °C) so it's perfect for hiking and spending as much time outside as possible.

Grant Park

The most famous place to observe the golden autumn is Grant Park. Maple, birch, ravine, and white ash create beautiful scenery on the area of 381 ac (1.54 sq km). The park offers a place for any activity: hiking, cycling, and, of course, autumn picnics. The 2-mi (3.2-km) Seven Bridges Trail is one of the most popular fall hikes.

Holy Hill Basilica in Hubertus

Holy Hill Basilica in Hubertus is beautiful at any time of the year. But autumn is a special time, when everything looks immersed in colors. The basilica is surrounded by slopes covered with deciduous trees at an altitude of 1,300 ft (396 m). Visitors can climb a 178-step observation tower to enjoy a postcard-like view of Milwaukee.

Oak Leaf River Trail

Oak Leaf River Trail, running along Lake Michigan, is perfect for a fall bike trip or simply a long walk to enjoy magnificent views of the colored trees. Overall, 135 miles of trail are available for outdoor activities. The trail includes rural plains, hilly city streets, and Lake Michigan's beautiful shoreline. The western section of the trail goes along the Little Menomonee River through a beautiful deciduous forest. The trail goes further through W Kinnickinnic Parkway and Whitnall Park, ending on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center

Another good fall destination in the Milwaukee area is the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, which, in addition to the park, also has an observation tower 60 ft (18 m) high. 15 mi (25 km). Stop by the Mystery Lake to see some beautiful reflections and check out the observation deck overlooking the North Ravine Trail.

Find hotels and airbnbs near Fall Colors (Map)

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Ascension Wisconsin hospital cuts

Hospital cuts mean thousands of people in Milwaukee will need to travel farther for emergency cardiac care. The Milwaukee Fire Department said the closure of the hospital cath lab will mean 100,000 Milwaukeeans will not be within 15 minutes of the lab.

The Brief

MILWAUKEE - Hospital cuts mean thousands of people in Milwaukee will need to travel farther for emergency cardiac care.

This is all about the place you might go if you ever have a heart attack – it's called a cath lab. It is where doctors can go in and clear a blockage.

"St. Joseph saved both my parents' lives. My dad had a heart blockage and I got him to the hospital and then my mom suffered a heart attack and my brother got here to the hospital," said Milwaukee Alderwoman Larresa Taylor, "Now that does bring about a fear, 'cause now where do I take them?

That is the concern Milwaukee's Public Safety and Health Committee addressed on Thursday, Dec. 5 – with the looming closure of St. Joseph's cath lab.

"Time is tissue when it comes to heart attacks and when it comes to cardiac events," said David Hensley, Milwaukee Fire Department Assistant Chief of EMS. "Every 30 minutes delay in cath lab access, a 7.5% increase in mortality is what happens."

"It really poses a significant risk," said Joshua Parish, MFD Assistant Chief. "When we learned of this news, it was incredibly disturbing to us. The reality is we often serve as that last line of hope and bring services to many, many patients who really are literally at death’s door. And in some of these cases brought back from death’s door."

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The Milwaukee Fire Department said the closure will mean 100,000 Milwaukeeans will not be within 15 minutes of a cath lab. Department officials said right now, 95% of people in the city are within a 15-minute range. But with the St. Joseph's cath lab cut, the department estimates that number will drop to about 78%. Instead, ambulances plan to rush heart attack patients to hospitals at least five miles away – to Froedtert, Columbia St. Mary's or Aurora Grafton.

FOX6 News questioned the top executive of Ascension Wisconsin, Daniel Jackson.

"What about the worries that people are not going to get the care they need; that every second counts when you’re having a heart attack. They’re going to have to drive 15-20 minutes out of the way?" asked FOX6's Jason Calvi.

"People don’t drive when they’re having a heart attack," Jackson replied.

"They are being transported," Calvi responded. "What would you say to those worries that 15 minutes is going to make the difference?"

Jackson walked away.

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Members of the Milwaukee Common Council did get some answers in a committee meeting on Thursday.

"From the time our fire department or our private EMT folk reach a patient in any of the districts with a cardiac emergency, to the time that I can open an artery, we’d like that to be less than 90 minutes," said Erik Stilp, Ascension cardiologist at Columbia St. Mary's.

Ascension Wisconsin said the closure was a tough decision.

"As the landscape has changed, the ability or the desire to offer all services, at every hospital, is just not practical and the scarcity of resources, it is not possible," Jackson said. "There’s a shortage of nurses. There’s a shortage of physicians. There’s a shortage of pipeline of a number of health care workers…For each of those standalone cath labs, you also have equipment, you have to have nurses, you have to have doctors, you have to have other providers, so in this time of scarcity of resources, there’s also a value when you consolidate, that the profiency based on seeing higher volumes, your skill set increases."

Come Dec. 14, there will be no cath lab left on Milwaukee's north side.

The Source

Ascension planned service cuts; alderman concerned

A Milwaukee alderman raises major worries about Ascension Wisconsin's planned cuts to services.

The Brief

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee alderman raises major worries about Ascension Wisconsin's planned cuts to services. On Thursday, Dec. 5, the alderman, community members and Milwaukee's fire chief will lay out concerns.

FOX6 News reported on these cuts when they were first announced in November. Now, Alderman DiAndre Jackson and Fire Chief Aaron Lipski are weighing in, with a planned news conference on Thurs., Dec. 5, followed by a Common Council committee meeting that will include discussion about the cuts.

Ascension Wisconsin planned service cuts; officials weigh in

On Thursday, Dec. 5, the alderman, community members and Milwaukee's fire chief will lay out concerns.

Jackson says extra travel time for some patients of 15 to 30 minutes to get needed care will be "the difference between life and death."

Alderman Jackson's worries center on Ascension Wisconsin's plans to close the cath lab for cardiac patients at St. Joseph's Hospital on the north side. He said that means patients will have to be transported more than five miles away to hospitals that will still have them – Froedtert, St. Mary's or Aurora-Grafton.

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Jackson said the change will mean 115,000 residents will no longer be within a 15-minute drive of a cath lab for cardiac patients. The labs are places where doctors can diagnose and treat heart conditions.

In a news release, Jackson said, "Cardiac cath labs are crucial for providing health services to those suffering heart attacks and cardiac arrest."

Ascension is also eliminating its cath lab at St. Francis Hospital on Milwaukee's south side.

Community leaders, including the Milwaukee Black Grassroots Network for Health Equity, say they are worried about the cut in services.

"At a time where cardiovascular disease continues to kill Milwaukeeans, Wisconsinites and Americans, this is a horrible decision. Our community deserves to have quality health care facilities to meet our growing health care challenges. So, it’s disappointing once again. But in Milwaukee, we are losing health care access to critical services that are so important for persons in our community," said Quinton Cotton, co-founder of the MKE Black Grassroots Network for Health Equity.

"Think of a tire that's flat. You can only go so far on a flat tire," said Ericka Sinclair of Health Connections, Inc., and also of the network. "You're not going to make it without your rims being damaged. So, it's a very similar situation in that respect, except this is a whole person. And that is a person that can literally die because they don't have access to what they need within the distance, which needs to be short for someone who has a heart condition, heart disease."

An Ascension spokesperson did not respond to a FOX6 News request for an interview. However, in a November email, a spokesperson said the company is making "significant investments" in southeast Wisconsin. The system said it's plan is to have broad access to things like primary care and then to have concentrated specialized care at centralized locations.

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Ascension said it will invest $10 million in St. Francis Hospital to add 60 in-patient beds for behavioral health.

"Ascension Wisconsin currently operates more 24/7 cardiac catheterization (cath) labs than any other healthcare system in SE Wisconsin. Cardiac services will be expanded at Franklin Hospital to include 24/7 cath lab availability to service southern Milwaukee County and northern Racine County, a rapidly growing geography devoid of such services today," a November news release stated. "In Southeast Wisconsin, 24/7 cath lab services will also remain available at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital - Milwaukee Campus, Elmbrook Hospital in Brookfield, and All Saints Hospital in Racine. These sites will serve all of Ascension’s Southeast Wisconsin hospitals and surrounding communities via an integrated STEMI and cath lab network. This strategy ensures highly experienced care teams can perform round-the-clock, minimally invasive heart procedures."

The Source

Winter weather is in full swing in Milwaukee.

A cold front crossing Wisconsin Wednesday evening is expected to bring frigid temperatures, high winds and light snow overnight and into Thursday.

Here's what to know about the upcoming forecast.

When is it going to snow in Milwaukee?

According to the Milwaukee-Sullivan National Weather Service office, bursts of light-to-moderate snow are expected across southern Wisconsin throughout Wednesday afternoon, with peak snowfall hours moving west to east.

Snowfall is expected to peak in south-central Wisconsin between noon and 4 p.m. before impacting the southeastern portion of the state primarily between 2 and 6 p.m. Snow accumulations should remain under half an inch, but high winds could cause snow to present visibility issues, especially for drivers during the evening commute.

In lakeshore areas like the City of Milwaukee, a wintery mix is possible early in the afternoon. The weather service forecasts a chance of rain and snow showers between 1 and 3 p.m. in Milwaukee, switching to scattered snow showers later in the afternoon and evening. Precipitation chances taper off by Thursday morning.

Southern Wisconsin is under a Wind Advisory

In addition to the snow, NWS has issued a Wind Advisory for all of southern and most of central Wisconsin. The advisory is in effect from 2 p.m. Wednesday until midnight Thursday as gusty northwest winds move across the state with the cold front. High winds may linger longer in lakeshore areas, NWS said.

In the Milwaukee area, winds of 15 to 25 mph are expected through Thursday afternoon, with gusts up to 45 mph and highest in the evening. The weather service says some areas may see gusts up to 50 mph.

The NWS warns that the combination of snow and wind during the Wednesday evening commute is likely to result in "blowing and drifting" of snow and "sudden drops" in visibility to one mile. Drivers traveling this evening are encouraged to budget extra travel time.

It is also recommended that people secure loose outdoor items like holiday decorations, patio furniture and trash bins ahead of the high winds.

How cold will it be in Milwaukee?

While relatively mild temperatures are in the forecast during the day on Wednesday, windchills in the negative single digits are expected Wednesday night through Thursday morning across the region.

In Milwaukee, overnight windchills of -7 degrees are expected, with colder windchills of -10 to -12 degrees further from the lake. Temperatures will climb to the mid-20s by Thursday afternoon, with windchills feeling like the low teens.

Milwaukee weather warnings

Milwaukee weather radar

Does applying to college seem complicated? High school juniors attending any MPS school can apply to Milwaukee’s two largest colleges and participating Universities of Wisconsin in less than five minutes at no cost! By applying now, students will begin their journey to start college in Fall 2026.

Milwaukee Direct Admit is an initiative of the M³ (pronounced M-Cubed) partnership, a collaboration among Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). This partnership works to transform the future of Milwaukee through education.

The opening of this year’s application window was announced by the M³ partnership during a press conference on November 19, 2024, at MacDowell Montessori School. Students have until May 1, 2025, to complete their applications.

Through this streamlined online application, Milwaukee Direct Admit connects a student’s MPS transcript directly to the schools of their choice. The application is free and does not require attachments, an essay, or letters of recommendation. This method will help students—especially first-generation college applicants—have better access to opportunities after graduation.

A student or family member will fill out a simple online form that needs only the student’s name and MPS student ID number. The applicant can choose to apply to MATC or UWM or both; in addition, students can select the Direct Admit Wisconsin option to apply to an additional nine UW schools.

Milwaukee Direct Admit is designed to take the stress out of applying for college. Students who apply to MATC and/or UWM are guaranteed acceptance to at least one of these schools.

Students who apply to MATC and/or UWM will hear back from their selected schools in about one month. All students who apply through Direct Admit will be notified of acceptance by September, 2024. Students are not locked in to attend any school that accepts them. Accepted candidates must officially accept their offer and complete forms required by the school they choose to attend. Enrollment at any of the colleges depends upon the student successfully graduating from high school in spring or summer of their senior year.

The application is open now—deadline is May 1, 2025!

Families who have questions or need help can visit mpsmke.com/directadmit. Students can also contact their school counselor or College and Career Center staff.