Heavy Snow, Marathon
- When
- February 7, 4:00 PM CST to February 8, 1:00 AM CST
- Where
- Marathon forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 44.898, -89.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 7 to 8, 2001
Southerly flow ahead of a developing low pressure system brought moist and relatively warm air into Wisconsin from the Gulf of Mexico. This air was forced to rise as it encountered a colder airmass, resulting in snow across the state.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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 GRB wrote it up.
Southerly flow ahead of a developing low pressure system brought moist and relatively warm air into Wisconsin from the Gulf of Mexico. This air was forced to rise as it encountered a colder airmass, resulting in snow across the state. The greatest snowfall was in Marathon county where nearly 6 inches of accumulation was reported.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 3:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 3:40 PM CST, 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
340 PM CST WED FEB 7 2001
NUMEROUS FCST CONCERNS TO DEAL WITH OVR THE NXT 48 TO 60 HRS. SNOW AMTS
TNGT...FOLLOWED BY FRZ EVENT THU NGT AND SNOW POTENTIAL ON FRI.
LATEST RADAR MOSAIC INDICATED SNOW HAD REACHED INTO CNTRL WI AS OF 21Z
AND WL BE OVERSPREADING THE REST OF THE FCST AREA BY DINNERTIME. 50+ KT
LLJ FCST TO PLOW INTO THE SRN GREAT LKS RGN TNGT. STG WAA/ISEN LIFT PATN
TO MV THRU NE WI TNGT. PW VALUES CLIMB TO CLOSE TO 0.75 OF AN INCH BY
12Z WITH FCST AREA IN THE RIGHT ENTRANCE RGN OF JET. WL KEEP FCST STATUS
QUO WITH WINTER WX ADVY NORTH AND SRN TIER OF COUNTIES. STILL APRS THAT
CNTRL/EAST-CNTRL WI WL SEE THE BRUNT OF THE SNOW TNGT WHERE LIFT IS
FOCUSED BEST AND PCPN REMAINS ALL SNOW THE LONGEST. AS BEST MSTR INFLOW
SHIFTS OFF TO THE EAST ON THU...WE SHOULD SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE PCPN AS
WARMER AIR CONTS TO GET PULLED NWD. THERE MAY SOME MINOR ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATIONS (AN INCH OR LESS)...HOWEVER LULL IN THE ACTION EXPECTED.
ATTN THEN TURNS TO MAIN SYSTEM WHICH WL BE EJECTING NEWD OUT OF THE
DESERT SW. ETA/AVN HAVE SIMILAR TRENDS ALTHO ETA MVS SYSTEM QUICKER AND
IS WETTER. FEEL THAT THE ETA BETTER WITH SPD BUT OVERDONE WITH QPF DUE
TO ITS FASTER MOTION. REGARDLESS...IT NOW APPEARS THAT THE NW HALF OF MY
FCST AREA MAY SEE A HEALTHY SNOW AMT THU NGT INTO FRI AS 8H TRACK FROM
SW-NE WI AND THEY WL BE COLD ENUF FOR ALL SNOW. THAT PART OF THE STATE
ALSO WL BE UNDER THE RIGHT ENTRANCE RGN OF JET. EAST-CNTRL WI MAY BE TOO
WARM FOR SIGGY SNOW...HOWEVER TEMP PROFILE WOULD INDICATE A BOUT OF FRZ
RAIN BEFORE COLDER AIR ARRIVES. AFTER CONSULTING WITH SURROUNDING
OFFICES...HAVE POSTED A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THU NGT AND FRI FOR THE
ENTIRE FCST AREA.
TEMPS NO BARGAIN EITHER THRU THE FCST CYCLE. READINGS WL NOT DROP OFF
MUCH TNGT AS CLDS AND SNOW ABOUND. FEEL GUID A BIT TOO WARM ON THU SO
CUT BACK A CAT. ANTICIPATE TEMPS TO ACTUALLY RISE THU NGT BEFORE
DROPPING DOWN LATE AS SFC LOW PASSES BY TO OUR SOUTH AND EAST. MUCH
COLDER AND WINDY CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL ON FRI AS 8H TEMPS PLUMMET INTO
THE TEENS BLO ZERO BY 00Z SAT. PRES GRAD TIGHTENS UP AS WELL 8H WNDS
EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 40 KTS. BASICALLY WENT CLOSER TO COOLER MAV FOR
LATER PDS.
COORD WITH MKE...LSE...DLH...AND MQT. THANKS ALL.
.GRB...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING
WIZ020>022-030-031-035>040-
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING
WIZ005-010>013-018-019-045-048>050-
WINTER STORM WATCH THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY
WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-
KALLAS
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/GRBThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, February 7, 2001
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Iowa, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Winter Storm in Colorado, February 7 to 8, 2001
- High Wind in California, February 7, 2001
- Ice Storm in Iowa, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Winter Storm in Michigan, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, February 7 to 9, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 7, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Utah, February 7 to 8, 2001
- Blizzard in Alaska, February 7 to 9, 2001
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, February 2001
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: 5230999.