Blizzard in Wisconsin, January 2, 1999

A snarling, crippling winter storm/blizzard all but paralyzed southcentral and southeast Wisconsin, depositing 10 to 20.5 inches of snow, generating wind gusts to 45 to 63 mph, whipping up huge drifts of 4 to 8 feet in height, and causing numerous chain-reaction collisions of dozens of vehicles. For some locations, this storm was the worst since the famous January1947 storm. Thanks to cold temperatures of 15 to 22 degrees, the snow was fluffy. Consequently, the horizontally moving snow was so dense that it looked like fog, as mentioned in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel newspaper. The Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport closed down at the height of the storm on Saturday, and Greyhound buses stopped running at 1030CST. Many flights at the Madison airport were canceled. As a result, roughly $1.0 million in revenue was lost in the aviation community. Nearly all cities and villages declared a snow emergency to help snow plowing operations which were expected to total about $1.0 million. Snowpiles eventually resembled small mountains.Peak wind gusts from the east/northeast were generally around 39 knots (45 mph) west of a line from Fond du Lac to Janesville where Winter Storm conditions prevailed. Visibilities in the Winter Storm area were occasionally below 1/4 mile... but most of the time around 1/2 mile. East of this line peak gusts were 43 to 48 knots (50 to 55 mph), except for gusts to around 52 knots (60 mph) along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Port Washington (Ozaukee Co.) had the highest measured gust of 55 knots (63 mph). Blizzard conditions prevailed east of the Fond du Lac to Janesville line where visibilities werre frequently 1/4 mile or less... and occasionally near zero.There were 4 cases of frostbite treated at Milwaukee County hospitals. In addition, a man suffering from hypothermia was recued from his garage in Wauwatosa. Otherwise, there werre 4 indirectly-related deaths in Milwaukee County due to people suffering from heart attacks after shoveling snow.In Waukesha County, about 60 vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction collision at 1400CST on I-94 near the Highway 18 exit due to near zero visibilities. There was one indirectly-related fatility in this accident. Elsewhere, a 51 vehicle pile up occurred at 0930CST on I-94 in Racine County. A 16 vehicle pile up was reported in Kenosha County on I-94 at 1330CST. MIlwaukee County noted a 14 vehicle pile up near Mitchell Field at 1130CST. A driver in Kenosha County said it was like driving in a can of white paint. All together there were probably about 300 vehicle accidents in southcentral and southeast Wisconsin, resulting in at least 17 indirectly-related injuries. Structural damage was reported in the city of Port Washington due to the strong winds. Two businesses noted damage o signs and roofs. In addition, a church had a stained glass window blown in. The wind also snapped some power lines, resulting the loss of electrical service to about 5000 customers in the counties of Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha; and to about 2000 customers in Sheboygan county.What made the winter storm/blizzard so different was the duration of blizzard-like conditions for 12 to 15 hours, while snowfall rates occasionally peaked at 1 to 1.5 inches per hour. Synoptically, the responsible low pressure eventually moved north/northeast through southeast Illinois, western Indiana, and then up along the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. Generally, a swath of 15 to 20 inches of accumulation extended from around West Bend (Washington Co.) to western Kenosha County. Elsewhere a band of 12 to 16 inches was observed from Lafayette County northeast through western Dane County to western Sheboygan County.Specific snow accumulations in the blizzard area include...Washington County: 20.5 iches at Big Cedar Lake, 18.5 at West Bend, and 18.3 at CedarburgKenosha County: 19.0 inches at Wilmot, and 14 at KenoshaWaukesha County: 17.0 inches at WaukeshaMilwaukee County: 16.7 inches at West Allis, and 15.4 inches at Mitchell FieldOzaukee County: 15 inches at Port WashingtonSheboygan County: 15 inches at Sheboygan Falls, and 12.5 inches at SheboyganWalworth County: 14.7 inches at Lake GenevaJefferson County: 14.5 inches 4SSE of Sullivan, 14 inches at Watertown, 13.2 at Ft. AtkinsonRacine County: 14 inches at Burlington, and 12 at CaledoniaFond du Lac County: 13.5 inches at Fond du LacRock County: 13 inches at Milton, 12.5 at Janesville, and 11.5 at Beloit.