Cold/Wind Chill, Marquette
- When
- January 17, 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 17, 1997
The coldest arctic air of the winter season enveloped southeast and southcentral Wisconsin, resulting in many school closings and cancellation of evening activities. There were 3 frostbite injury cases reported in Milwaukee 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
- 3
- Property damage
- $20,000
- 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.
The coldest arctic air of the winter season enveloped southeast and southcentral Wisconsin, resulting in many school closings and cancellation of evening activities. There were 3 frostbite injury cases reported in Milwaukee county. Maximum temperatures only reached zero at Madison and 5 above at Milwaukee, roughly 20 degrees below normal. Morning lows in the 7 below to 14 below range, coupled with northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph, generated wind chills of 30 below to 50 below zero. A water pipe froze in a Watertown (Dodge county) church. The resulting flooding damaged the building's 2nd and 3rd floors. Electrical lines in the cities of North Fond du Lac (Fond du Lac county), and Sheboygan (Sheboygan county) contracted and snapped due to the extreme cold air. About 2000 customers were without power for about 1 hour.
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 17, 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 17, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Fond du Lac forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Sheboygan
- When
- January 17, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Sheboygan forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Sauk
- When
- January 17, 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 17, 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 17, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Dodge forecast zone
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Washington
- When
- January 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Milwaukee forecast zone
- Injuries
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Lafayette
- When
- January 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Racine forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold/Wind Chill, Kenosha
- When
- January 17, 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 Pennsylvania, January 17 to 20, 1997
- Cold in Michigan, January 17 to 19, 1997
- Ice Storm in Oregon, January 17 to 19, 1997
- Cold in Iowa, January 17 to 19, 1997
- Cold in New Jersey, January 17 to 20, 1997
- Cold in New York, January 17 to 18, 1997
- Cold in Illinois, January 17 to 19, 1997
- Cold in Vermont, January 17, 1997
- Cold in New York, January 17, 1997
- Cold in Pennsylvania, January 17 to 18, 1997
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 17 to 18, 1997
- Cold in Maryland, January 17 to 20, 1997
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, January 1997
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5586966, 5586967, 5586968, 5586969, 5586970, 5586971, 5586972, 5586973, 5586974, 5586975, 5586976, 5586977, 5586978, 5586979, 5586980, 5586981, 5586982, 5586983, 5586984, 5586985.