Heavy Snow, Sheboygan
- When
- December 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 in Wisconsin, December 18 to 19, 2000
Heavy snow fell across all of south-central and southeast Wisconsin, adding to what would become record total snowfall amounts for December. Luckily, wind speeds were generally 10 to 20 mph, which minimized the blowing and drifting of the snow.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
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 fell across all of south-central and southeast Wisconsin, adding to what would become record total snowfall amounts for December. Luckily, wind speeds were generally 10 to 20 mph, which minimized the blowing and drifting of the snow. Snowfall amounts were geneally 6 to 8 inches, although a band of lake-enhanced amounts of 10 to 14.5 inches was noted from Sheboygan County to Racine County. A location northeast of Milwaukee's Mitchell Field gathered 14.5 inches and Howards Grove (Sheboygan Co.) came in with 14.0 inches. Mitchell Field registered 10.5 inches, while in Racine County, 10.0 inches were measured in Caledonia. The 8.1 inches measured at Mitchell Field was a new calendar day record for the 18th, breaking the old one of 7.1 inches set back in 1929.Synoptically, a surface low moved from northern Iowa across northern Illinois to northern Indiana, with an inverted trough of low pressure extending north of the low. Minor jet coupling was noted aloft. By the end of December, new snowfall or snowdepth records would be set across all of south-central and southeast Wisconsin.Milwaukee registerd a whopping 49.5 inches for the month of December (old one was 30.7 inches in 1951), and on December 21st, set a new December snow depth record of 32 inches (old record was 18 inches in 1978). The 49.5 inches was 430% of normal and 105% of the average winter snowfall! Other locations had monthly totals of 30 to 55.5 inches (roughly 250 to 694% of normal), or 65 to 145% of the average winter snowfall! Port Washington (Ozaukee County) was the location with the greatest totals and percentages just mentioned. Maximum snowdepths were measured on December 30th, generally ranging from 15 to 25 inches, although at least 30 inches was on the ground from southern Ozaukee County to northern Kenosha County. Racine had the most with 34 inches on the ground, while other notables were Mitchell Field with 30, Germantown (Washington Co.) with 27, and 20 inches at Waukesha (Waukesha Co.).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Washington
- When
- December 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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 18, 3:00 PM CST to December 19, 4:00 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
- Blizzard in Iowa, December 18, 2000
- High Wind in California, December 18, 2000
- High Wind in Kansas, December 18, 2000
- Heavy Snow in New York, December 18, 2000
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, December 18 to 19, 2000
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 18 to 19, 2000
- Heavy Snow in Iowa, December 18 to 19, 2000
- High Wind in Colorado, December 18, 2000
- High Wind in Vermont, December 18, 2000
- Heavy Snow in Illinois, December 18 to 19, 2000
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, December 18, 2000
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, December 18, 2000
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5177427, 5177428, 5177429, 5177897, 5177898, 5177899, 5177900.