Cold/Wind Chill, Marquette
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Marquette forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold in Wisconsin, January 31, 1996
Arctic air continued to pour into Southern Wisconsin on northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph. Morning lows dipped to 29 below zero in Monroe (Green county), 23 below in Plymouth (Sheboygan county), 21 below in Madison (Dane county), and 20 below zero (a new daily record) in Waukesha (Waukesha county).
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 20 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 10
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 20
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.
Arctic air continued to pour into Southern Wisconsin on northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph. Morning lows dipped to 29 below zero in Monroe (Green county), 23 below in Plymouth (Sheboygan county), 21 below in Madison (Dane county), and 20 below zero (a new daily record) in Waukesha (Waukesha county). Wind chills dropped into the 40 below to 60 below range as daytime temperatures never recovered to zero. Ten people were treated in hospitals for frostbite injuries: one in Sheboygan county, 7 in Milwaukee county, and 2 in Racine county. Service stations were overwhelmed with calls for assistance, and hardware stores reported a booming business due to the demand for space heaters, snow blowers, and other cold-weather gear.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
20 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Cold/Wind Chill, Green Lake
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Green Lake forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Fond du Lac
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Fond du Lac forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Sheboygan
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Sheboygan forecast zone
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Sauk
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Sauk forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Columbia
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Columbia forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Dodge
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Dodge forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Washington
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Washington forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Ozaukee
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Ozaukee forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Iowa
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Iowa forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Dane
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Dane forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Jefferson
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Waukesha
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Waukesha forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Milwaukee
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Milwaukee forecast zone
- Injuries
- 7 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Lafayette
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Lafayette forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Green
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Green forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Rock
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Rock forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Walworth
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Walworth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Racine
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Racine forecast zone
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Kenosha
- When
- January 31, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Kenosha forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in Nebraska, January 31, 1996
- Cold in Minnesota, January 31, 1996
- Cold in Wisconsin, January 31, 1996
- Cold in Michigan, January 31, 1996
- Dense Fog in Florida, January 31, 1996
- Flooding in Oregon, January 31, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, January 31, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, January 31, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 31, 1996
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, January 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5538563, 5538564, 5538565, 5538566, 5538567, 5538568, 5538569, 5538570, 5538571, 5538572, 5538573, 5538574, 5538575, 5538576, 5538577, 5538578, 5538579, 5538580, 5538581, 5538582.