Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, December 11 to 12, 2000

Name: Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, December 11 to 12, 2000
Start: 2000-12-11T11:00
End: 2000-12-12T01:00
Location: Wisconsin

December 11 to 12, 2000 · NWS MKX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

Heavy snow, accompanied by northeast to north winds gustingn to around 40 mph, affected all of southeast Wisconsin. This system was the first in a series of winter disturbances that accumulatively would lead to new, monthly snowfall records for December, and new record snow depths at any one time. Accumulations ranged from 6 to 8 inches in Fond du Lac County on up to 14.5 inches in Racine and Kenosha Counties (at Wind Point and the city of Kenosha, respectively). A new calendar day snowfall record was set at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field on the 11th where 13.6 inches fell, breaking the old record of 13.1 inches set back in 1987. This is also the greatest total for any calendar day in December at Milwaukee. Dozens of vehicle accidents were noted due to slippery roads and blowing snow. Other notable snowfall totals were 12 inches in Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.), an estimated 11 to 11.5 inches in extreme southeast Waukesha County, and an estimated 10 to 10.5 inches in extreme southeast Ozaukee County. Synoptically, a surface low moved from central Colorado Sunday night December 10th, to north of Dallas, TX, by the end of the 10th, to east-cental Illinois by noon CST on the 11th, and then to near Toledo, Ohio by 2100CST. Strong upper level forcing due to a coupled jet structure over Wisconsin, along with strong mid-level differential positive vorticity advection, led to significant upward vertical motions over southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, thus deepening and slowing the surface low.This system produced a heavy band of snow, ranging from 8 to 12 inches, across northeast Iowa, extreme northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin. As the surface low moved into western Indiana, gusty northeast winds to 30 knots, in the northwest quadrant of the circulation around the low, drew moisture from Lake Michigan. This enhanced the snowfall in the counties adjoining the lake from north of Chicago, to northern Milwaukee county. Snowfall totals in these lakeshore locations were between 12 and 15 inches.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Fond du Lac

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Fond du Lac forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sheboygan

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Sheboygan forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Washington

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ozaukee

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Ozaukee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Waukesha

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Milwaukee

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Milwaukee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Racine

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Racine forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kenosha

When: December 11, 11:00 AM CST to December 12, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, December 2000

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: 5177406, 5177407, 5177408, 5177409, 5177410, 5177411, 5177412, 5177413.